Our Mrs Sheppard
by ElyaSol
Summary: Sometimes John’s off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.
1. The happy couple

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** Nothing specific. We'll say through season 3.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them or Firefly. sigh

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. Sparky.

**Author's note:** The idea for this story came from an episode of Firefly. If you've seen Firefly, I'm sure you can guess which one. If you haven't, go watch it now….after you read this, of course. Let me know what you think!

* * *

**Chapter 1- The happy couple**

He should have known that this conversation was going to be trouble just from the way Elizabeth had addressed him when she called him to her office. _Colonel._ Since their first year in Atlantis, Elizabeth rarely used his title, calling him John most of the time instead. The times she used his rank, with or without Sheppard immediately following it, could be categorized one of three ways. Obviously, she would call him Colonel Sheppard when talking with the SGC or his subordinates. Second to this was when she was angry with him and his name would come out in a carefully controlled voice. On rare occassions, but really those were the most memorable, his rank was like a fond nickname, often in response to him referring to her as 'Doctor' in a teasing manner. The fact that he knew this should have alerted him to the probable state of events when she asked for him over the radio. The way she said his name in a clipped tone should have been a dead giveaway. As should the wary glances he drew from Chuck and Lorne as he made his way through the control room. But no, he had been oblivious to it for some reason and now was the unprepared victim of Elizabeth Weir's anger.

"What?" He responded, realizing that drifting off into his own thoughts was not the best course of action to take at this point.

"I'll ask you again, Colonel." John winced a little at the use of his rank for the third time in the last 10 minutes. "Did you perhaps leave something out of your report on Gandria, MX-3983?"

"No."

Elizabeth paused and then seemed to collect herself for what he expected was going to be a rather intense conversation. The problem was he didn't have a clue why. It was never a good idea to go into a situation like this completely unaware as to what was going on, especially with Elizabeth.

"I honestly don't know what you're talking about," he said in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

Elizabeth regarded him with an unreadable expression and then muttered something that sounded like, "and that's part of the problem."

"About a half hour ago Elder Alix called to talk to me." She began in full Dr. Weir mode, making him feel like her subordinate rather than a colleague or friend.

"That was the leader of Gandria. Nice guy."

"He called me to talk about you," Elizabeth continued in that cool calm voice, still pinning him with a look.

"Okay."

"And asked for my permission and help to start planning your wedding."

John felt his mouth drop open and managed to gasp, "What?"

"So you can see why I might think you left something out of your report," She finished tightly, still watching him with a sharp look.

"How the……what?"

"That's what I want to know."

"And you think I know?" He shot back and jumped up to pace in front of her desk, his brain scrambling to figure out how this had happened.

"Well, as one half of the happy couple I assumed you would." Elizabeth's eyes were following him as he moved back and forth.

"Elizabeth, I have no idea what is going on." He rushed to assure her. "I would never…..I mean, my position here practically prevents it. And I would definitely get to know the person better than an evening campfire celebration would allow." He had stopped pacing right in front of her desk and gave her what he hoped was his most sincere look. "I swear I'm just as confused as you."

After regarding him for a moment, Elizabeth spoke, her tone noticeably softened. "John, your team has been visiting the settlement for 2 weeks now. It is a possibility that you would meet someone. And sometimes campfire celebrations can get a little out of hand."

As bizarre as this situation was, John was pleased to have gotten past the 'Colonel' business. "I didn't drink that much." He protested. "Trust me, I would remember getting engaged again."

"Her name is Imely. Does that sound familiar?"

"No."

Elizabeth studied him for another minute and then sighed resignedly. "All right, we'll figure this out. I told him we would be calling back in an hour after I had a chance to talk to you."

John realized that he had just pinpointed the source of Elizabeth's anger. To be caught completely off-guard by this in front of a new and valuable ally didn't make her look like a very good leader, especially when it involved her second-in-command.

"Oh, believe me, I want to know as much as you do." He responded. "Do you an idea of what happened?"

Elizabeth sighed again, "I might have a theory or two. We should call Elder Alix back." She stood to leave the office, motioning for him to come along.

When he reached the control room, Chuck was already dialing Gandria. They sent a MALP through so they would have video and waited for a few minutes before Alix responded. After exchanging the necessary greetings, Elizabeth got down to business.

"Elder Alix, I have spoken to Colonel Sheppard, and if I may be blunt he doesn't recall becoming engaged to Imely. Perhaps there has been some misunderstanding."

"Dr. Weir, since we talked, I have spoken with Imely. She assures me that the customs of our people were explained to the Colonel and he agreed to enter a partnership with her."

John was off camera to Elizabeth's right and upon hearing this started gesturing wildly to indicate this was not true.

"All right." Elizabeth answered patiently. "Could you explain your customs to me, so that I could speak further with Colonel Sheppard. I apologize, but he has been called away on a military matter, and I didn't want to delay our call."

Elder Alix glanced to his right, making John think that he might be employing the same technique as Elizabeth and that Imely was standing to the side. "According to our ways, if man and woman feel they are compatible, she offers him a drink from a bowl. When he accepts and drinks this indicates interest. She then presents him with a wreath of flowers to wear. Again if he accepts this indicates his wish to seriously court her. Finally, she asks him to participate in a ceremonial dance, and in accepting he agrees to be her partner in life. Our people can be rather impulsive, so it is not unusual for all three customs to be observed in a single night, which is apparently what happened with your Colonel Sheppard."

"I see." Elizabeth said, betraying nothing of what she really thought in either her tone or expression. It was times like these when, even as well as he knew her, John had trouble figuring out what she was thinking. She looked over at him. "Well, Colonel Sheppard has just radioed that he's on his way back here. If I might have a few minutes to talk privately with him, I'm sure we can figure this out."

"By all means, Dr. Weir. I'll have Imely sent for as well, and we can speak again in 10 minutes."

Elizabeth nodded, smiled and indicated to Chuck to cut the transmission. Then she turned to face him and lifted an eyebrow. "So, did any of that sound familiar to you."

John thought back. He had been drinking during the celebration, not enough to be drunk, just a little happy. He remembered drinking wine out of a bowl, and if he fast forwarded about an hour, being given a wreath of flowers to put on his head, and if he moved forward another hour or two, being asked to dance by a pretty young woman. The same girl that had offered him the drink and flowers. _Crap_. "Yeah," he answered weakly.

Elizabeth looked up at the ceiling, almost as if she was looking for guidance, and shook her head.

"But I didn't know what any of it meant. I thought, 'hey some wine' and 'a pretty girl is offering a flower hat', not 'let's be man and wife'." He explained.

Elizabeth brought her gaze back to his. "Okay. Here is what we're going to do. You are going to apologize for misunderstanding their customs. Nicely." She cut off any remark he was going to make by raising one hand and continued in her most professional voice. "I don't care if it wasn't explained to you. And then you are going to say that your position in our settlement prevents you from even being able to marry right now."

"I think I can handle that." He said evenly, trying not to be annoyed at how Elizabeth was treating him. This wasn't his fault!

The following discussion with Elder Alix and Imely went quite well. Both he and Elizabeth warmly apologized for the mistake. It was accepted and the engagement was dissolved with little explanation, prompting John to think that maybe Elder Alix had found out from Imely that their customs hadn't been explained to him. Once the call was over however, Elizabeth's good humor seemed to vanish. She quickly retreated to her office, leaving John to his own devices. He could tell that she wasn't exactly angry with him anymore, just disappointed. Unfortunately, he had come to realize that Elizabeth's good opinion mattered quite a lot to him.

* * *

**TBC…..**


	2. The reception

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** Nothing specific. We'll say through season 3.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them or Firefly. sigh

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. Sparky.

**Author's note:** This one is kind of short, but I hope you enjoy it. Please review!

**Chapter 2- The reception**

* * *

Wondering if his day could get any worse, John made his way to the mess hall for dinner. He was through the line and taking a piece of chocolate cake when Andy, his favorite cook, the one that always held back turkey sandwiches for him, motioned him into the kitchen.

"What's up Andy?" He asked, starting to eat a French fry.

"I just wanted you to know Colonel, that even though this cake is chocolate, I do make an excellent white cake. So I would be honored to make your wedding cake." Andy said with a huge grin.

John coughed, choking on a bit of potato. "You know?"

Andy nodded and said with obvious glee, "Everyone knows."

"Oh, great." He should have realized that all of Elizabeth's calls with Elder Alix had been in the control room. And the Atlantis grapevine was always very efficient.

"Well, it's not every day that one of our illustrious leaders accidently almost gets married." Andy replied with a laugh.

"Thank god for that." He glanced at the door. "I don't suppose there's a way I can eat in here?"

Andy grinned and shook his head.

"All right then, I'm going in." He turned and went through the kitchen doors into the dining room.

And was greeted with the wedding march. At least half of the members of the expedition were standing and humming 'Here Comes the Bride.' John rolled his eyes, but couldn't help smiling as he made his way to the table where Rodney, Ronon, and Teyla were already eating. By the time he was sitting down, the song had ended and was replaced by applause.

"Thank you everyone for your well wishes." He stood, feeling his face flush. "But were there actually a wedding I would get real musicians." This comment was met with laughter and everyone turned back to their food.

"All right, get it out of your system." He said to his team with a wave of one hand.

"I would have gotten you a toaster." Ronon stated and started eating.

John paused, watching Ronon tear into a piece of chicken, and then looked to Teyla for an explanation.

"Rodney told us it is a traditional wedding gift on Earth." She elaborated.

"What would you have gotten me?"

"A toaster. Rodney also said people mistakenly get more than one for their wedding." She grinned, clearly enjoying his predicament as much as everyone esle. "Oh, and I would have sung a lovely song in your honor at the ceremony."

"That's very nice. Thank you." He replied sarcastically.

"Can we still have the bachelor party?" Ronon asked. "Because I know this place-"

"No." John interrupted. "Let's stop right there. Elizabeth is already irritated enough at me for having to deal with all of this."

Ronon shrugged and went back to his dinner.

"You can't blame her for being annoyed though," Teyla said, always the reasonable one.

"No, I suppose I can't," he admitted. "But it wasn't my fault! Just a strange set of circumstances I happened to fall into. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I would have preferred the Wraith or being injured or something else. At least then I get some sympathy."

"Hey, I offered you a bachelor party, but you turned it down." Ronon pointed out.

John rolled his eyes and the table fell silent as everyone continued eating. In fact, it was oddly silent. He cocked his head to regard the third member of his team. "McKay. You are being remarkably quiet."

"Oh, I'm just biding my time Sheppard. Something like this has to be savored." Rodney answered smugly. "But I also would have gotten you a toaster."

The following dinner was a rather strange affair. John never thought he would be discussing weddings at dinner with his team, but Teyla and Ronon...well Teyla more than Ronon...were interested in what Earth weddings were like and they all started comparing Earth traditions to those of Athos and Sateda. To their credit, his friends only made the rare comment about his near brush with wedded bliss. It was almost like they could tell he still felt unsettled from his discussion with Elizabeth. The distraction was nice, not to mention it was fun watching Rodney trying to explain the 'YMCA' as a traditional dance. They lingered over dinner, and soon the mess hall was mostly empty, with only his table and a few others remaining.

"Thanks McKay," John said, reaching to take the cup of coffee Rodney had gotten him in addition to his own. In addition to common dance songs, Rodney surprisingly knew a lot about the origins and symbolism behind different parts of the wedding ceremony. It was a little surreal.

Rodney held the cup just out of his reach, "Now Sheppard, I'm giving you this cup of coffee, but it does not, _in any way_, indicate that I want to marry you. Just so we're clear."

John narrowed his eyes and took the coffee, while his so-called friends erupted in laughter.

"How long is this going to last?" He asked, after taking a sip.

"Biding my time, Sheppard." Rodney replied with an evil smile. He pulled out a data pad and proceeded to mark something off of what looked suspiciously like a list. "Biding my time."

* * *

**TBC…..**


	3. Cold feet

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** Nothing specific. We'll say through season 3.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them or Firefly. sigh

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** I was going to try to keep this whole story from John's point of view, but that just didn't happen, starting with this chapter. Let me know what you think!

* * *

**Chapter 3- Cold Feet**

After John left her office Elizabeth sat down to work despite it being early evening. She should have gone to grab dinner and bring it back, but with this afternoon's activities she wasn't up to seeing anyone at the moment. The Atlantis rumor mill was most likely in full swing by now, and she really didn't need to hear anymore about the almost-wedding, having been a participant in part of the action. So she tried to finish the paperwork that would have been done a couple of hours ago if not for Sheppard's latest incident. However, as was usually the case with a certain Colonel, she couldn't keep her focus on her work for very long. Instead of reading one of Zelenka's reports, her thoughts kept drifting back to the conversations that had filled her afternoon, first with Elder Alix and then with John.

When Elder Alix had brought up John's engagement, she hadn't known what to think. The rational side of her was convinced that it was some sort of misunderstanding. The pessimistic part thought it might be true and that John was looking for a way to broach the subject and hadn't gotten around to it yet. And the cautious leader in her thought that it could all be an elaborate trap for Sheppard. The cautious side had won out for the most part, which was why they had done all of their communicating through the Stargate rather than visit the planet and speak directly to the Elder Alix and his people.

Now that some time had passed, she could examine her actions. In that mixture of emotions, she had chosen to focus on anger. She had been so angry at John for getting himself into this situation. She assumed that he had been flirting with some girl and then stumbled into the entire mess in true John Sheppard flyboy style. No matter what the situation, he somehow managed to get into trouble, and it was up to her to get him out when he couldn't resolve it himself. She could handle sending rescue teams or signing off on his hair-brained schemes. She did however mind cleaning up his women problems. Admittedly it had only happened a few times, but when those situations did arise she always ended up getting hurt. In this case, hurt that he might be engaged in the first place and that he hadn't told her. And then angry at herself for feeling hurt when she had no right to feel that way. It was completely irrational considering she hadn't even known the entirety of the situation, but there it was. She had taken all of that anger on John when he really only deserved a portion of it, if any.

Elizabeth sighed and turned her chair to face away from the control room and any prying eyes. She still held Radek's report in one hand to keep up appearances. _I need to stop doing this to myself, _she thought_. _Being attracted to John Sheppard was one thing. He was a close friend, a very good looking man, who respected and protected her. It was entirely another thing to have this much of a crush on him. But just as soon as she would get over it, the idiot would do something endearing or heroic or almost die, _again_, and she would be back at square one. The man was infuriating.

Elder Alix had said 'your Colonel Sheppard', but he wasn't her Colonel Sheppard. And Elizabeth doubted he ever would be. She was convinced that John cared for her only as a friend. True, he would flirt with her, but he would flirt with a chair. No, she just wasn't his type. And she would want more than a fling. Not to mention the fraternization policies that sort of applied to them. She had also seen enough and heard enough rumors about him and Teyla to guess where things would likely go in the future.

"There, have you convinced yourself enough." She said aloud to the room. _Great, now I'm talking to myself._

Regardless, wallowing in all of this wasn't going to resolve anything or help her move on. Besides, now that she had examined her actions she was feeling guilty. Arguments with John always left her feeling a little uneasy, but in this case, she had almost completely failed to rein in her emotions. She had treated him with suspicion and anger when he hadn't exactly deserved it. What he did deserve was an apology.

To make matters worse, even though the engagement between John and Imely was broken, she still had to figure out what to do about Gandria. It was most likely that this all had been a misunderstanding. But things in the Pegasus galaxy were rarely simple. So while it was unlikely that Sheppard had been targeted for a specific reason, he wasn't going to be allowed back on that planet for a while, a fact he was absolutely going _love_ hearing.

"This is why they pay me the big bucks," she sighed.

* * *

**TBC...**


	4. Friend of the Groom

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** Nothing specific. We'll say through season 3.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them or Firefly. sigh

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** Hey guys. Thanks for the reviews! It's good to hear that you're enjoying the story so far.

* * *

**Chapter 4- Friend of the Groom**

"Ow."

Teyla sighed. She had noticed at dinner that John seemed out of sorts. While this was not that surprising given the events of the afternoon, she had also been in Atlantis long enough to know it was the kind of mood usually brought on by an argument with Elizabeth. So, about an hour after dinner she had gone to the gym for the purpose of finding John. As she predicted he was there, looking like he was trying to decide between going for a run or hitting a punching bag. Deciding to help her friend, she had extended an invitation to him to spar. John wasn't the type of man to talk about his feelings. From what she could gather he was the most open with Elizabeth out of all of them, which was great except when she was the cause of his mental distress. However, John was rather forthcoming with her when they were sparring. She liked to think of it as a nice way of beating the truth out of him. In any case, he had accepted her invitation, and like she thought, was so distracted that she was pulling moves on him he had learned to block and counter months ago.

"Ready to go again, or would you like to take a short break?" She asked. They had been sparring for a half hour or so and John really wasn't doing well.

"Let's go again." He said, twirling one of the sticks absently while settling into a fighting stance. "I just can't seem to react to that move of yours tonight."

"Hmm." She replied with a knowing look and took a position opposite him.

They started once again, the sticks striking each other in rapid succession. Teyla saw a few openings in his defenses, but chose to take the one that would end up with John laying flat on his back.

"Oof." The air rushed out of John as he landed. He lay there on his back for a minute, looking up at her. "What did you mean with the….hmmmmm?"

"What do you think I meant?" She asked. These things usually went better when he started the conversation rather than her.

"Teyla," He said in a warning tone and grabbed her hand to pull himself up. "Let's go again."

"As you wish."

After another round, at the conclusion of which she landed a firm whack on his right leg, John was willing to take a break. They sat down on one of the side benches with some water. Only a few minutes had passed before John turned to her.

"I'm distracted tonight."

"Yes you are. I think at this point Jinto could beat you." She replied with a comforting smile.

"Hey, I'm not that bad." He protested and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "It's just been a weird day."

"I'd imagine so." When John didn't say anything for a minute or two she decided to press the issue. "I hear that things with Elizabeth didn't go so well."

"She called me Colonel." He muttered.

"Have you talked to her since this afternoon?" She asked, pretty sure that he hadn't or he wouldn't be in this state.

"No. She's probably still mad at me." He said.

"Elizabeth was angry?" Teyla asked. John had said irritated at dinner, but anger was different.

"Yeah. Or disappointed. Or both." John sighed. "I probably should apologize to her again. I didn't mean for this to happen, still not exactly sure how it did either."

"Who was the woman, again?" Teyla realized that she hadn't heard that much about that part of the story. Since she had been around Sheppard most of the time while they were on Gandria, it was likely she had met the hopeful bride.

"Her name is Imely. I sort of remember her, but I don't know how she could have gotten the idea that….well, I suppose it doesn't matter now."

"Except that everyone is making fun of you and Elizabeth's angry with you." She pointed out.

"Thanks for reminding me." He groaned, leaning back against the wall. "Rodney has a list."

"Would you really have expected anything else?"

"No, but I'm hoping he'll get distracted by something shiny and ancient soon." He turned his head and gave her a small smile. "And I think I'll apologize to Elizabeth tomorrow."

Teyla then decided to try to shove her friends in the right direction. This dance that John and Elizabeth kept doing around each other was amusing at times, but ultimately needed to end. She wanted her friends to be happy, and it was obvious to her and several other people that they would be if they stopped being so stubborn, opened their eyes and actually talked to each other. Maybe this event had left them both enough off balance that they would actually get some place if they talked tonight. "Why tomorrow? It's not that late, you should go talk to her tonight."

John opened his mouth and then closed it with a frown. "No reason I guess, just don't want to disturb her."

"I doubt it would be a disruption. If anything it would ease her mind and yours." She said sweetly. "And then you can put the matter behind you."

"Okay." John drew the word out and gave her a considering look. "Thanks Teyla. Have a good evening."

Teyla watched as he got up and headed for the door with a determined set to his face. She congratulated herself; this little conversation of theirs had turned out particularly well.

* * *

**TBC…..**

**AN:** Okay, I _promise_ that in the next chapter Elizabeth and John will actually talk again. I meant to make it part of this one, but I'm having a little trouble deciding which way to take the conversation. Although after rewatching a couple of episodes of SGA, I'm definitely leaning in one direction now…..


	5. Second thoughts

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** Nothing specific, but this takes place sometime after _The Tower_, so I guess anything before that is fair game.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them or Firefly. sigh

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** It was bugging me that I hadn't figured out where this story fitted into the SGA timeline, so we'll say it takes place sometime after the season 2 episode _The Tower_, but before _The Long Goodbye_. Anyway, here's the next part. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 5- Second thoughts**

John drew in a deep breath as he approached the door to Elizabeth's quarters. He had been resolved to talk with her through showering and changing after the gym, but now that he was standing outside her door he briefly considered walking away. However, his hand automatically came up to knock on the door before he could convince himself otherwise.

A muffled voice yelled, "Coming." A few seconds later the door opened to reveal Elizabeth, clearly dressed for relaxing with rather rumpled hair.

"John." She looked surprised.

He rocked back on his heels and gave her a tentative smile, "Mind if I…"

"Oh, yes. Come on in." Elizabeth motioned him inside.

He passed her to enter the room, immediately noticing the underlying tension between them. When the door whooshed closed he turned to look back at Elizabeth. His sudden movement must have startled her because he caught a glimpse of something in her gaze before it was replaced by a more blank expression.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you," He started lamely, wanting to break the heavy silence. "I checked your office and our balcony, but you weren't there, so I decided to try your room next."

Elizabeth crossed the room to stand next to her bed, "And if I wasn't here?"

He thought a moment, "The mess hall for coffee."

"I didn't know I was so predictable." She gave him a small smile and nervously tucked a curl of hair behind one ear. "Care to sit?" She asked, gesturing to her desk chair.

"Ah…sure." John took the chair and was surprised when Elizabeth remained standing.

"I'm glad you found me." She looked briefly at the floor and then locked eyes with him. "I have something I need to say…I need to apologize to you about today."

For the second time that day, John was surprised by a conversation with Elizabeth. _She was apologizing to him?_

Elizabeth must have seen his confused look because she continued to explain, "I was having a stressful day already. And then I got that call from Gandria, and I just...I reacted without thinking. I was wrong to take my other issues out on you."

"Elizabeth, you don't have to-" He started to protest, but she cut him off.

"No, John. I really do. I'm sorry."

He nodded, "Believe me, its fine. I probably would have done the same thing."

"Somehow I doubt that," Elizabeth said dryly as she sat down on a corner of the bed, causing a stack of papers to fall on the ground. Despite her comment however she seemed relieved. "Now what did you want to talk to me about."

John smirked slightly at her, his natural humor returning now that the tension had lightened considerably. "I wanted to apologize to you." He rushed to continue before she could interrupt. "I don't know exactly why I ended up getting engaged, but I know it caused you a lot of grief with valuable allies. So I'm sorry too."

Elizabeth gave him a genuine smile, "Apology accepted."

"Good." He grinned back at her, glad to see the characteristic sparkle return to her eyes. "Look at us, we're like some corny after school special."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Yes, Elizabeth and John present 'How to Navigate the Trials of the Pegasus Galaxy without Killing Each Other.'"

John chuckled, "The title is a bit long, but I guess that's the general idea."

"With all the crazy things that happen here we could start a whole series," Elizabeth added with a playful look.

John felt his smirk widen and they sat in comfortable silence. He really enjoyed sharing these kinds of moments with her, when they could just relax in each other's company without the threat of impeding death and destruction.

"Well," he said, standing to leave. "I should let you get back to work. Although you should be going to bed, not working in bed." He admonished and reached down to pick up the papers that had fallen.

Elizabeth looked at the clock and frowned, "I didn't realize it was so late. I'm almost done anyway."

When John went to hand the stack of collected papers back to her he noticed that they were mission reports from Gandria. "Uh, Elizabeth?"

"Oh," She took the reports from him. "I was reassessing the situation in Gandria."

He suddenly remembered part of their conversation from earlier. Things were going so well that he thought nothing of bringing it up now. "Do you know why I ended up getting engaged?"

"Ummmm….I have a couple of working theories." Elizabeth moved to place the stack of papers on her desk, not looking at him as she did so.

"Really. I was there and I barely remember her." He admitted, interested to see what Elizabeth had come up with.

"John," She turned to face him and sighed. "You're not going to like this, but you had a lot of contact with Imely."

"I did?"

"According to Teyla's reports, she was your first guide in the village, and your team had dinner at her parent's house on three occasions."

It took a second for the subtext of that statement to sink in. "Wait. Are you saying that I led her on in some way?" He turned defensive.

"No, I'm saying that you were probably your charming self and she took it the wrong way." Elizabeth's expression was carefully neutral.

"Oh." He ran a hand through his hair, feeling a twinge of guilt. "What are the other theories?"

"There's really only one other one." Elizabeth answered reluctantly, now half-sitting on the edge of her desk.

"And that is?" He prodded, holding her gaze.

Elizabeth paused and regarded him with an assessing look. "That you were targeted to lure you back to the planet for some reason."

"Elizabeth, you can't be serious." John said, attempting to shrug off her concerns.

"I am, John. We've seen something like this happen before."

She was serious. He could tell just by the tone of her voice. The light note of their previous conversation had been replaced by a businesslike one. "Elizabeth, I'm military. I'm supposed to be the paranoid one." He reminded her.

"I'm not being paranoid, I'm being cautious." She stated. "We haven't known these people that long, so for the next little while we are going to be more careful."

John could sense that he wasn't going to like where this was going. "And what does that mean?"

"It means that you are not to go back to Gandria for a time." She said, her voice gaining an authoritative edge.

"What?"

"Until we can confirm that it was just a simple misunderstanding."

"And how are we going to do that?" He took a step closer to her, now definitely not liking the direction this was headed.

Elizabeth's expression tightened, "I'm going to visit them tomorrow. I had a visit planned for next week, so this will just move it up."

"So you mean to tell me that us 'being cautious' about this planet involves sending you, _our leader_, there." He said with blatant sarcasm. "That is ridiculous."

"I thought I was just being paranoid." She shot back.

"Well your safety is something I _get_ to be paranoid about." John insisted, raising his voice slightly to prove the point.

Elizabeth coolly raised an eyebrow at this outburst and then attempted to explain while clearly not backing down, "After what happened today I need to smooth things over with these people. We're being cautious for the sake of you, not me."

"Fine, I'm coming with you." At this point John didn't know if he was arguing out of annoyance that his movements were limited, concern for Elizabeth's safety, his innate stubbornness or a combination of all three.

"John, I've-"

He interrupted her, trying to plead his case. "Elizabeth, if they wanted me there were a million times they could have grabbed me. It doesn't make any sense."

"Something else is going on here John, I can feel it." By this time Elizabeth's voice had risen to match his level. "Hopefully I'm wrong and its nothing, but the only clue we have is your engagement, so you are _not _going back there."

"Clearly, this is-"

This time Elizabeth cut him off sharply, "I've already talked to Lorne. His team is taking me."

_She went to Lorne_. Going to an officer under his command just ticked him off even more. John opened his mouth to protest.

Elizabeth's eyes flashed, "End of discussion."

John could see that he wasn't going to get anywhere with her. Frustrated, he half growled, "Fine, but you're taking Ronon." And stalked out of her room.

_Damn Teyla and her stupid advice_.

* * *

**AN:** The last half of this chapter can be blamed on a re-watching of _Hot Zone_.


	6. The processional

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** Nothing specific, but this takes place sometime after _The Tower_, so I guess anything before that is fair game.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them or Firefly. sigh

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** All right, here's the next chapter. For some reason the writing process for this one was a little strange, so I hope it turned out okay!

* * *

**Chapter 6- The processional**

John walked to the conference room, unsure at the reception he was going to receive after the previous evening. His temper had significantly cooled since last night, yet he still wasn't exactly sure what had happened. One minute everything was back to normal and the next they were arguing, again. Now that he could think clearly about it, he could see Elizabeth's logic behind needing to visit Gandria herself. Truthfully, he didn't think there was anything to her suspicions, which should have meant that he had no need to worry about her, except he still did. And it wasn't that he didn't trust Lorne, he just wanted to be there himself. Not too long ago this overwhelming, and slightly irrational, feeling of protectiveness for Elizabeth would have taken him by surprise, but now he was pretty much resigned to the fact that he would risk life, limb, and apparently her anger, to keep her safe.

The only thing he justifiably angry about was that Elizabeth had talked to Lorne without speaking to him first. Even though she was the expedition leader and really didn't have to consult with him on everything, they usually went over missions together, especially if it was a more important visit involving any of the senior staff, including Elizabeth herself. Although, given how he had reacted he almost couldn't fault her for going around him. She knew he wouldn't take it very well and had probably planned on telling him privately in her office before the briefing. Of course in full view of the control room their discussion wouldn't have gotten so heated. He would have been more sarcastic than angry and she would have been coldly professional, a much better scenario for both of them than what had happened last night.

With these final thoughts he turned the last corner and walked into the conference room. Elizabeth was the only other person in the room, causing him to stop just a few steps inside the door. She looked up at the sound of his entrance, traces of wariness appearing on her features when she registered his presence.

"Hey," he said, unsure of how to proceed. Given how his apology had gone the night before, he wasn't exactly up for a repeat performance.

"Good morning, John." She answered quietly.

So Elizabeth didn't seem to be overtly angry with him anymore, which was good. It also appeared that she didn't know what to say either as they stood locked in an uncomfortable gaze for a few seconds.

John cleared his throat, "Look, I should-"

"Why Sheppard, if it isn't my favorite groom," Rodney McKay's voice boomed into the room, followed shortly by the man himself. "And how is our Mrs. Sheppard this morning? Or, what was her name again?"

John turned from Elizabeth, not noticing the faint blush appearing on her cheeks at the comment, to regard an irritatingly chipper Rodney.

"McKay," He said in a warning tone.

"What?"

John shook his head and moved to take his seat. Saying anything would just make things worse. He amused himself with ways to annoy Rodney as the rest of the group arrived, and was in the middle of a particularly creative idea involving lemons when Elizabeth started moving to her seat to begin the meeting. A brief glance around the room showed him that someone was definitely missing.

"Elizabeth," he addressed her as she moved passed his chair after talking to Teyla.

Elizabeth stopped and turned towards him with a questioning look.

"Where's Ronon?" He asked, careful to keep a mild tone of voice. This was a point he was not going to compromise on, if he couldn't be there himself, Ronon was going to look after her. "Because as we discussed last night," he started, noticing a few eyebrows around the room raise.

"I expect he is on his way." Elizabeth answered quickly and sat down.

"Oh, good." He could hear the surprise in his voice. Elizabeth looked up at his response and even though he couldn't define what passed between them, he knew that somehow they had put last night's argument behind them.

Sure enough Ronon joined them a few minutes later. The briefing wasn't a very long one as Elizabeth, Ronon, and Lorne's team were going to leave shortly. Elizabeth discussed the reasons for the day's trip to Gandria, tactfully covering the reasons he wasn't going and outlining the negotiations she would be engaging in. The civilization on Gandria wasn't too advanced, but their planet had a wide variety of natural resources and well as several plants with reported medicinal properties. In short, they were one of the more promising allies they had found so far in the Pegasus Galaxy.

After the meeting ended, John followed Elizabeth back to her office with Teyla. The two of them would be in charge of the city in Elizabeth's absence, so there were a few additional things they needed to know. After going through a thankfully short list of points, Teyla left to teach a self-defense class. He was lounging in a chair in front of her desk, while Elizabeth organized the few things she was going to take with her.

"I'm still not happy that you're going without me." He said, watching her fill the pockets of a tac vest.

Elizabeth looked up from her desk. "I know," she said with a half smile and went back to fiddling with the front of the vest.

"Let me help you with that." John offered, standing to take the vest from her. It was a trimmed down version of the military one he always wore, still containing several pockets but lacking weapons, therefore looking far less aggressive, and well military. They had started sending scientists and negotiators out in vests like these to give them protection, but not disrupt the 'we come in peace' image of negotiations.

"Aha." One of the buckles on the front of her vest had been stuck and finally gave way.

John stood from the corner of her desk he had settled on and turned to vest toward her so she could slip in it, "Here you go." He figured this was a good peace offering.

Elizabeth smiled softly at him and turned to let him help her on with the vest. When it had settled on her shoulders she tilted her head back to look at him, her eyes shining softly, "Thanks John."

He took a step back, part of his brain registering just how domestic this scene was becoming, while she buckled the vest and tucked a few more things in the pockets.

"Well, I guess I'm ready to go." She smiled at him again and raised one eyebrow, "Take care of our city for me?"

"Of course," He said, feeling his lips curve into a reassuring grin, and was once again drawn in by the light in her eyes before she started to leave the office.

Without really knowing what he was doing, John reached out to catch Elizabeth's arm. Surprise flitted across her face as he looked down at her. "Hey….um…be safe okay," he said after a pause. Then suddenly realizing how close they were standing, he quickly released her.

Somehow Elizabeth's hand found his. "Of course," she echoed his earlier response, gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, and left the office.

From Elizabeth's characteristic place on the landing outside her office, John watched the team leave and reminded himself he had nothing to worry about. When the stargate disengaged, Teyla was standing next to him. She said quietly with a knowing look, "Well whatever you did, I think you just fixed it."

**TBC...**


	7. The inlaws

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** Nothing specific, but this takes place sometime after _The Tower_, so I guess anything before that is fair game.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them or Firefly. sigh

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** I'm back!! Sorry for the delay in getting this one out, but I was out of town for a couple days, and this chapter was rather challenging to write in places. But it is a slightly longer chapter, so hopefully that will make up for the wait. Enjoy and please review!

* * *

**Chapter 7- The in-laws**

Elizabeth stared at the stargate as the wormhole whooshed closed and then set off with the rest of Lorne's team for the settlement. The stargate overlooked a small meadow that transitioned into tall grass and finally a forest. From her one previous trip to the planet, shortly after their initial contact, she knew that they had about a 45 minute walk ahead of them to the village. Given that her day was going to be filled with smoothing over Sheppard's engagement, preliminary negotiations of an alliance, and watching out for anything suspicious, she was looking forward to the downtime that the journey to the village would provide. Not to mention, it was a beautiful day, sunny and warm with just the slightest breeze.

Lorne was leading the way, with the members of his team both in front of and trailing her, and she caught snippets of conversation as they made their way across the meadow. Ronon, her Sheppard-mandated shadow for the day, walked next to her, unsurprisingly silent. Elizabeth realized that this would be the perfect time to find out more about Ronon. Despite the fact that he had been on Atlantis for a while now, she really didn't know him all that well. She thought through the most obvious topics of conversation and discarded them for various reasons. This really wasn't the place to discuss about his past on Sateda or as a runner. Asking what he thought about Atlantis or his team seemed trite. And knowing that a significant part of her day was going to be spent on small talk meant that she really didn't want to have to make any right now. Reflecting on what she did know about Ronon lead her believe that he was the type of person who wouldn't appreciate small talk either, so Elizabeth strolled along in silence, letting her mind wander and her footsteps lull her into a comfortable peace.

However, eventually her thoughts turned back to John Sheppard, as they often did. She had never met anyone who could get under her skin so easily. Last night had been the perfect example. Everything was going fine and then somehow blew up into another argument. Like anyone else, Elizabeth didn't like to have her reasoning or authority challenged, but there was really no excuse for getting so defensive and yelling at her second in command, even if he had yelled at her first. Well, maybe yelling was an exaggeration; it was more like loud talking. Anyway, as a diplomat she had more than enough experience to not be goaded into losing focus in the course of a discussion, and especially to not let the situation escalate to yelling...um...loud talking. She had known it was going to be a fight with Sheppard, that he wasn't going to like having to stay in Atlantis, but realizing this hadn't even helped her present her case. She had even gone over all the points in her mind in preparation for speaking with him before the briefing today. Then last night he had gotten all stubborn and overprotective and her best laid plans flew out the window. She hadn't even brought up the biggest reason for John to not accompany her, that it would almost be an insult to the people of Gandria. Like earlier in the day, rational thought had fled and she just reacted. Elizabeth sighed. Atleast they had managed to come to a cease fire of sorts before she left. It seemed wrong somehow to leave Atlantis with things still strained between them. John could just be so frustrating!

_And hot_. That part of herself that she tried not to listen to decided to speak up. Sometimes when they argued, like last night, his eyes would flash a certain way and there would be this palpable tension pulsing between them, almost drawing them together. As if he was responding to that force, John would invade her personal space, bringing them that much closer, and she would get all caught up in the way-

"Dr. Weir."

The sound of Ronon's voice tore Elizabeth away from what were sure to become rather inappropriate thoughts. Feeling her face flush a little she glanced around, taking notice of her surroundings. To her surprise they had made their way through much of the forest and were rapidly approaching a canyon. Over the years the Gandrians had dug out an extensive network of rooms in the large canyon, at places four or five stories high, to protect themselves from the Wraith. However, rather than just hiding in the caverns during cullings, the Gandrians lived in them.

She looked up at Ronon gratefully, "Thanks." The stairs down to the canyon floor were narrow and winding, giving the advantage to the villagers should the Wraith ever try to take the village by foot, but it required some measure of concentration to navigate. And her attention had obviously been somewhere else...well really on someone else, but she doubted that anyone knew that.

Ronon just nodded back at her. A few minutes later they reached the edge of the canyon and started the climb down to the village.

* * *

"Greetings Dr. Weir." Elder Alix said warmly with a slight nod of his head. He was a man of average height and although well into his fifties still had a head of raven black hair. After meeting him on her previous visit, Elizabeth had instantly seen why he had been elected as village leader. He had a manner about him that seemed to both naturally command and put people at ease.

"Elder Alix," Elizabeth replied, returning the nod of respect. "I'm glad we could meet today, despite the short notice."

"Well, after the events of yesterday, I think it is best." He responded genuinely and they started to walk to his home. "I still am not sure what happened, but I would not want it to come between your people and mine."

"My thoughts exactly. Perhaps it is best if we put the matter behind us." She suggested.

He gave her a pleased smile. "Consider it done."

Their meeting continued in the same genial manner. Gandria boasted a wide variety of plant life that could be used for medicinal purposes, which meant she had some very excited botanists and doctors on her hands. In turn Atlantis was offering medical supplies and agriculture advice. Although some of the population lived on farms outside the central cities, the Gandrians still had to trade for a portion of their food. Increasing crop yield was therefore an important issue.

When they broke for lunch she went to consult with Major Lorne. Ronon had stayed with her during the morning's discussion, but she had instructed Lorne's team to casually look around the village for anything suspicious. To put it simply Lorne's team hadn't found anything. Her afternoon was spent touring the village with Elder Alix, and Elizabeth hadn't picked up on anything strange over the course of the day either, making her feel a little ridiculous about her suspicions.

"I'm regret to inform you Dr. Weir that some of the village leaders will not be able to attend the meeting," Alix looked up from the note he had just received after their tour of the village. They were sitting in his study, awaiting guests that now appeared not be coming. "There was a fire in one of the villages west of here, so three of the Elders will not be able to make the meeting."

"By all means, we should delay the meeting then," Elizabeth replied. She had wanted to meet the other Elders. Alix was the leader of this village of about 500 people, but there were around 10 other villages like this spread throughout the canyon. She had hoped to meet with five other of the village Elders on this trip to begin preliminary negotiations with the people as a group. "I hope no one is injured."

He frowned at the note, "It appears no one was seriously hurt. However, I'm afraid this will cut short your visit." The initial plan had been for Elizabeth to meet with the Council of Elders and then get to know them better over what would have probably been a lengthy dinner.

He paused and gave her a considering look. "There is someone who wished to speak to you. I was thinking about having her guide you back to the stargate. I also wanted you to visit a local farm on your trip here, which time will allow for now, and she could show you her family's farm on the way."

"That sounds like an excellent way to end our visit." Elizabeth sensed there was a little more to what he was saying and was waiting for the other shoe to drop. "You can contact me later and we can work out when it would be convenient for me to meet the members of the Council."

Elder Alix nodded and then sighed, "Dr. Weir, Imely was the one who wanted to meet with you."

"Really," she raised her eyebrows. That was a little surprising, but maybe the young woman wanted some sort of closure on the issue with Sheppard.

"Personally, I'm not sure it is such a good idea with what happened, but I will let you decide," he confessed, seeming frustrated by the whole situation, a feeling Elizabeth could whole-heartedly understand. "I am a little worried about her, she was rather disappointed yesterday."

"I don't necessarily think it's a bad idea." Elizabeth said after a brief moment's thought. She assumed Imely was feeling foolish over what had happened and probably just needed some reassurance. Considering they would be having a lot more contact with the Gandrians it seemed important to do what she could to help along the healing process. And it wasn't like she couldn't sympathize with her. "As you said, I would like to see a farm as it is an integral part of our peoples' alliance. And maybe it would be good for her to talk about happened, although I'm not exactly sure why she wants to talk to me."

"Well, I will send for her and after a farewell toast you can be on your way." He motioned to a man standing near the door, who exited immediately. "I noticed her in the market when we were walking through town," Alix further explained.

The term 'farewell toast' made Elizabeth curious. Did every Gandrian ceremony involve drinking something? At the beginning of their meeting today her, Ronon, and Lorne's team had participated in a greeting ceremony, which was drinking a cup full of water. She knew part of the marriage process involved drinking wine out of a bowl and now it seemed that leaving required some sort of ceremonial drink as well. She wondered how it had all started. Maybe the Gandrains were just a thirsty people. Sure enough when Imely arrived not five minutes later she was carrying a tray full of cups filled with a dark orange colored juice, enough for the Atlantians and Elder Alix. After some ceremonial words of parting and downing the slightly bitter drink, they started back in the direction of the stargate, planning to stop at Imely's family farm on the way.

On the way Imely was rather silent. Elizabeth had thought that once they reached the forest the woman would make some attempt at the conversation she had wanted to have. However, it wasn't until they came to the beginnings of the grassland and were turning onto a path leading to Imely's farm that she drew Elizabeth off to the side to speak with her. Elizabeth nodded at Ronon and moved further to one side of the road so they could speak more privately.

"Elder Alix said you wanted to speak to me." Elizabeth said in a breathy tone, deciding it might be easier of she started the conversation. She was a little surprised how winded the journey up the canyon and through the forest had made her.

"Yes, Dr. Weir," Imely answered quietly, watching her carefully with dark eyes. "I feel rather stupid about the whole thing."

Elizabeth was unsure of how to respond. How does one girl-talk in the Pegasus Galaxy with a perfect stranger about their second in command? "Well mistakes can happen. No harm was done." She replied in a hopefully reassuring manner.

Imely regarded her with a searching look. "I just wanted to let you know that he didn't do anything wrong. I guess I just mistook his attention for something else."

Elizabeth smiled slightly, "You're not the first one who has done so. Trust me there's nothing to worry about."

Imely's eyebrows rose at that and a look of comprehension spread over her face. However, before Elizabeth could consider what that look meant, a sudden feeling of vertigo hit her, causing her steps to halt. She reached out to grab onto Imely's arm for balance, but found nothing but air. The next instant her vision blurred. She could hear muffled groans coming from around her. Time seemed to stretch until another wave a dizziness hit.

This time everything went black.

* * *

**TBC**


	8. The best man

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** Nothing specific, but this takes place sometime after _The Tower_, so I guess anything before that is fair game.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own them or Firefly.

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** All right, here's the next one. I really want to finish this story before Atlantis starts again in a week. We'll see how that goes. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Please review!!

* * *

**Chapter 8- The best man**

John caught himself glancing up at Elizabeth's desk for what must have been the fiftieth time that morning. Not being able to go off world for the day, he had resolved to catch up on his paperwork. He couldn't bring himself to use her desk, so instead he sat on the couch, his feet propped up on a coffee table that was also covered in papers with a laptop balanced on his lap. It was a familiar position for him when he was working on something with Elizabeth in her office, which was why he kept looking for her even though he knew full well that she wasn't there. While Elizabeth was in Gandria he was responsible for the city, so John had decided to work in her office to be more accessible to the members of the expedition. Well, that was the reason he had initially given himself before just admitting that he was worried about her and wanted to be close to the control room should anything happen. _Not that it's going to_, he reminded himself.

John sighed and tried to channel his worry for Elizabeth's safety into something more productive, like the weapons training schedule he currently had in front of him. For a while he was more or less successful until his attention was drawn by Chuck entering the office to place a folder and data pad on Elizabeth's desk. Chuck gave him a slight nod and left the office.

John had determined during the course of the morning that he hadn't previously given the man enough credit. Peter Grodin always acted like Elizabeth's secretary in certain ways, sometimes preventing people from seeing her if she was already too busy, trying not to let her be overrun with meetings, and on occasion reporting to him or Carson when she was missing sleep and meals from working too hard. With Grodin's death it seemed that Chuck had started to fulfill that role. John noticed that the majority of the people entering the control room went to Chuck first, most reports were passed to him and then put on Elizabeth's desk, and somehow he had already fended off an attempt from Rodney to talk to John that morning. _And_ Chuck had tried to warn him about Elizabeth's state of mind yesterday morning with the whole engagement debacle. Basically, he had decided that Chuck was kind of awesome.

John went back to his training schedule. Elizabeth would die of shock if she came back and all his of paperwork was done. It was almost worth doing just to see the look on her face.

"Colonel."

John looked up to see Chuck holding out a report. He took the offered folder and quickly determined it was a requisition form for the equipment that he had talked about with Elizabeth earlier in the week.

As he was glancing over it to make everything was included and nothing strange had been added, Chuck explained, "It needs to be signed. Dr. Weir must have forgotten about it before she left this morning and she wanted it sent with the update to the SGC today."

John nodded and started looking around for his pen. It had just been on that stack of papers….

"Here you go sir." Chuck held out a pen, wearing a slightly amused expression.

"Thanks." John gave him a brief smile and signed the report on the last page. Flipping the folder closed he went to hand it and the pen back to Chuck.

"Sheppard you should keep that pen." Rodney's voice interrupted the exchange and he appeared almost from out of nowhere behind Chuck.

Great, now he had to deal with McKay. "And why is that Rodney?" John asked, pretty sure he didn't want to hear the answer.

"It can be your something borrowed and blue!" He announced gleefully.

John rolled his eyes and finished giving the papers and pen back to Chuck, who turned to leave the office.

"Oh, and something either old or new." Rodney continued after a pause, still clearly amused by the joke.

"McKay," John narrowed his eyes.

"But I'm not here to discuss wedding plans," McKay went on, his expression changing to that look he got when he was excited about something scientific. "I have this idea to use-"

"Wait." John interrupted, holding up one hand. To his surprise Rodney actually stopped talking. "Is the city in danger?"

"Well, no." McKay answered impatiently. "Atleast no more so than usual, but if you'd just-"

"Are any of our people in danger?" John asked calmly.

"Not that I know of, but-"

John held up his hand and amazingly McKay stopped talking. Again. _There must be something about this office_. "Does this have anything to do with turkey sandwiches, golf, or surfing? Or Ferris wheels, even though we don't have one here."

"No, Sheppard." McKay half glared at him.

"Then I don't want to hear about it. I'm not going to sign off on something you couldn't get Elizabeth to agree to when she's not here." Rodney's disappointed look made him think he had guessed the situation correctly. "Now I'm going to lunch." Even though Elizabeth wasn't here he was quite pleased with how the day was going.

* * *

Unfortunately that good feeling completely disappeared by late that night.

John looked around the conference room at the assembled people. Rodney, Teyla, and Carson were seated at their characteristic positions around the table. Miller and Stackhouse, the next members in the military chain of command after himself and Lorne, were also present. Absent were Ronon, Lorne, and most conspicuously so, Elizabeth.

John had been waiting in Elizabeth's office, finishing up the last of his paperwork when the time of her arrival came and went. Teyla had joined him after a half hour went by and he tried to reassure her, and himself, that the team was just a little tardy. Then another hour had passed and he had become seriously worried. It seemed like his team always came back late from their missions, but the few times it had happened with Elizabeth she sent someone to check in with Atlantis to let them know of the delay. The fact that they hadn't heard anything meant either she couldn't send anyone or they hadn't been able to make it to the gate, neither a very comforting possibility. There was also a slim chance that she had merely lost track of the time, but the twisting feeling in his gut told him otherwise. When Teyla suggested they call a meeting of the senior staff and military he agreed and was almost out the office door before she finished the sentence. So here they were now trying to figure out the best course of action.

"I say we send a team to look for them." John stated after Teyla had gone over the situation.

"It's only been two hours, Colonel," Carson said reassuringly. "They're probably just a little late."

John shook his head, "If they knew they were going to be late, Elizabeth would have sent someone to tell us."

"Sheppard, maybe she forgot." Rodney offered, the joking matter he had been treating John with over the last day was completely gone.

"No she wouldn't Rodney." He answered, regarding them all with a serious look. "Believe me, Elizabeth has reminded me about checking in so many times that she wouldn't forget."

"I agree with Colonel Sheppard," Teyla broke in. "The fact that we haven't heard anything means that they cannot get word to us for some reason." She gave him a sidelong look, "It might be something as simple as bad weather, but we need to go look."

"I'm sure you all realize this, but it's practically the middle of the night there." Stackhouse reminded them as it was just past midnight in Atlantis and a little later in Gandria. "It's going to be a little hard to look for them in the dark."

"I was thinking we'd take two jumpers, cloaked." John answered. "We can do a sweep for lifesigns around the gate and forest. I remember there being a clearing in the forest not too far from the city. We can land the jumpers there and check out the town for them. Hopefully between the nightvision goggles and moonlight we can see everything. Worst case scenario, we do the scan, watch the gate, and wait until morning to visit the village."

He looked around the table and was pleased to see everyone nodding. "All right then, Stackhouse and Miller assemble your teams. I'll fly one jumper and Hendricks can fly the other one. We'll meet in the-"

"Colonel." Teyla said.

John looked over, but finished relaying the rest of his orders, "-jumper bay in fifteen minutes. And then we'll get them back. Dismissed." John was aware of the fact that it had taken a bit of effort to say 'them' rather than 'her' throughout the entire conversation. He was glad that it was over and they had a plan.

"Colonel," Teyla's voice had a determined edge to it. Everyone froze for a second as they stood from their seats, and then quickly exited the room, leaving John and Teyla alone.

"Yes Teyla," He said with a sigh. He really didn't have time for this, he had to get changed and outfitted-

"You are not going," Teyla interrupted his train of thought.

"What?" John turned back to her, half convinced he hadn't heard her correctly.

"I said you are not going on this mission." Teyla said, firmly looking him in the eye.

"Excuse me?"

"Elizabeth said you weren't to set foot on that planet because she thought something was going on and now it appears she may be right." Teyla crossed her arms and pinned him with a stern look that reminded him quite a lot of Elizabeth. "So you are not going on this rescue mission."

"Teyla, Elizabeth couldn't have known that she was going to get into trouble when she gave that order." He attempted to reason with her.

Teyla continued unfazed, "Besides her order, if something has happened to Elizabeth." John's stomach turned over at that remark. "And I am not saying it has, but you are now the leader of this city. We can't afford to lose both of you."

John stared at her for a moment. He respected Elizabeth's orders and logically he understood Teyla's point, but the need to go find out what had happened for himself was too great. To be stuck here, waiting to find out what had happened, "I don't handle waiting and not doing anything well Teyla." He said softly, dropping his gaze to the table.

"I know that John," she answered in a sympathetic tone.

"And if anything happens to her…." He trailed off, not wanting to finish that train of thought. John took a deep breath and glanced back up at Teyla, "But you're right."

Teyla gave him a small smile and stood there while he relayed the new orders to Stackhouse and Miller. Then they went to Elizabeth's office together.

To wait.

* * *

**TBC….**


	9. Wedding crashers

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** This takes place sometime after _The Tower_, so I guess anything before that is fair game.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own them or Firefly.

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** Back to Elizabeth!

* * *

**Chapter 9- Wedding crashers**

Elizabeth became vaguely aware of people talking, their voices rising to pierce the fog surrounding her mind. She couldn't remember where she was, but there was something she was supposed to be doing. For the next several moments she attempted to break through the confusion, focusing on the voices to help draw her out of disorientation. Soon they resolved into words and a not quite recognizable conversation. It seemed important for some reason, so she strained to hear anything she could. The fact that she heard her name almost immediately made it a little easier to focus.

"…………..pick up Weir, Lorne, and the rest until morning."

"…………..best part of this plan……rid of them quickly………..…be implicated." A woman said.

"………………impossible to send a team………." The man answered.

"…..hold them for the night……..." A second male voice chimed in.

"You don't understand why I'm worried?" The woman's voice rose in irritation so that Elizabeth could hear all of what she was saying. "You heard what Sheppard did when he thought Weir was dead. What do you think he's going to do when she doesn't return?"

There was a muttered answer that she couldn't quite pick up.

"Yes……………he'll find her here." The woman sighed. "Well……..do about it now."

Another incomprehensible comment followed.

"………….be careful…………………around the gate………..." The woman finished.

Elizabeth could hear footsteps shuffle about, the sound of a door opening, and then quiet. During the course of the discussion, her memory had slowly returned. Her head still felt fuzzy and it was a struggle to focus her thoughts, but she now recalled coming to Gandria with Lorne's team, speaking with Alix, touring the village, and then leaving. She remembered walking to a farm, after which point her mind seemed to cloud over. Elizabeth concentrated further, trying to remember through the haze. She had been talking to Imely and then there had been incapacitating dizziness. That plus the conversation she had just heard seemed to point to her being taken prisoner.

This thought made her aware of her physical situation for the first time. She leaned her head back against something solid and opened her eyes slowly. Despite the fact that she had moved her head gently, it pounded with a sharp pain causing her to groan. A few seconds passed before her vision steadied enough to take in her surroundings. Faint light illuminated the small room where she was currently seated against one wall. Shelves lined the walls to her right and left with jars and bundles stacked on them, and the wall across from her had barrels in front of it. From what she could see, there wasn't anyone else in the room. _Well that's unfortunate._

To add to the list of unfavorable conditions, her hands appeared to be tied behind her back and she was gagged. She gave the ropes an experimental tug and figured out that not only was she bound, but that she was tied fairly securely to something. After feeling around with her hands for a moment she determined it was probably a wood post, so it didn't seem like she was going anywhere anytime soon. Elizabeth sighed, what she wouldn't give for Ronon and one of his knives right about now.

Since moving was out of the question for the time being, she instead tried to piece together how exactly she had ended up here. The conversation she had overheard indicated that Ronon, Lorne, and the rest of the team had been captured and they all were to be handed over to someone in the morning. The fact that they seemed concerned about being discovered led her to believe that they were still on Gandria, which was good because then Atlantis would know where to look.

Now she just had to figure out who had captured them, who they were being handed over to, and why. Wait, that woman's voice had sounded a little like Imely. She had been captured by Sheppard's disappointed fiancé?

Suddenly the pieces fell into place. Imely had requested to speak with her to get the team away from the village. Then, she had drugged the wine for the farewell toast. And the woman probably had them stashed in her family's farm waiting to be turned over to…..who? Elizabeth paused, reviewing the conversation again. _The Genii._ As far as she knew, John had only thought she was dead and reacted to it once, when the Genii invaded Atlantis during the storm. And the only way anyone would know that was if they were in contact with the Genii. It made sense, but it also didn't make sense. The last time she checked they had a tentative truce with the Genii. So why would they want people from Atlantis?

Hopefully, Atlantis would send a rescue team and she wouldn't have to find out. They had left Gandria in the late afternoon, but hadn't been expected back to Atlantis until late in the evening. The question was how long John would wait around for her and the team before going to look for 

them. Elizabeth was aware of the fact that she was counting on John to be more paranoid that normal about her safety and come looking for her when she was just a little overdue. Except she had forbidden him to set foot on this planet. _Well at least I was right about something going on here_, she thought ruefully. _Yay me_.

She did have basic self defense training, but even if she could get out of her bonds, her head was still throbbing and spinning, like a really bad hangover. Even with some element of surprise she doubted she could take down a guard single handedly. However, it couldn't hurt to attempt to break free of her bonds, so Elizabeth started pulling them up and down against the wood post, trying to snag and tear the rope little by little. She had only made a dozen or so pulls when a door opened at the top of a set of stairs she had failed to notice. The room was suddenly bathed in light, causing her head start throbbing again. Elizabeth squinted at the brightness, seeing Imely standing in the doorway and then walk down the stairs, wearing a slightly amused expression.

"I thought I heard something in here." Imely said once she reached the floor of what now appeared to be a root cellar. Her expression turned thoughtful. "You should still be unconscious. Maybe you didn't drink all of the extract, not that it really matters now."

Elizabeth tried to talk, but all that came out were muffled noises.

Imely smirked a little, "I can take the gag off, but if you try to kick me or anything I will take it out on one of your men."

Elizabeth was momentarily shocked by the coolness of her tone, it was such a departure from the unsure woman she had briefly spoken to. She nodded. It was worth a try to talk her way out of this.

"I think you're mistaken," Elizabeth said once the gag was removed and Imely had stepped back a pace or two. "We have a truce with the Genii."

Imely's eyebrows rose in surprise and Elizabeth felt a certain satisfaction in having figured out that piece of information. Soon her expression returned to a knowing smirk. "You are mistaken Dr. Weir. You _did _have a truce with the Genii. Now they want Atlanteans."

"Are you sure? Because the Genii have already held me as a prisoner once and they let me go, so maybe-"

"I know what I was told to do." She interrupted. "Though I'll admit that is puzzling, but I was given the impression that your capture was rather time sensitive. In any case, they'll be here soon enough and you can ask them yourself."

"And you're doing their dirty work for them. Why?" Elizabeth asked.

"Maybe because I believe in what they are doing to rid us of the Wraith. Maybe because I have heard how you double-crossed them. Maybe because they're paying me to do it." She answered evenly, crossing her arms.

"It's really not going to do any good. Whatever the Genii want, my people don't negotiate with terrorists." Elizabeth said. It now looked like she wasn't going to be able to change Imley's mind, but she hoped if she just kept the conversation going, Imely would continue on in 'comic-book villain' mode, as John liked to call it, and reveal more of what was going on.

"You don't negotiate with terrorists Dr. Weir," Imely pointed out, watching Elizabeth carefully. "But you're not in charge of Atlantis right now, are you?"

"It's not just my policy, it's our government's policy." Elizabeth protested.

"You mean to tell me that Colonel Sheppard, the man who went on a killing spree because he thought you were dead, wouldn't trade for your safety." Imely raised one eyebrow. "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Just then the entirety of the plan hit Elizabeth. She should have realized it earlier, but she blamed whatever they had given her for scrambling her brain a little. The Genii hadn't wanted just anybody from Atlantis to hold as a hostage, they specifically wanted her to use as leverage against John. That also meant that Sheppard hadn't been the one targeted by the engagement.

"Ahh, now she gets it." Imley must have seen the comprehension on her face. "This never was just about the dear Colonel. It was all to get you and deal with him. It would have been much simpler of you had come through the gate to address our wedding plans, but I guess in the end this worked too."

Elizabeth glared at her. "I told you, John won't deal."

"From the little I know of him, I think he will. And obviously, so do the Genii." Imely started to leave the room. At the door she turned back and regarded Elizabeth with an almost apologetic expression, "And if he doesn't, maybe you should have told him about the way you felt before it was too late."

* * *

**TBC**


	10. The recessional

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** This takes place sometime after _The Tower_, so I guess anything before that is fair game.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own them or Firefly.

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** Yeah, so this is definitely not going to be done before new Atlantis starts on Friday. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but its definitely more than I can write and post in two days. Anyway, I hope you're still enjoying the story! And now back to Elizabeth...

* * *

**Chapter 10- The recessional**

After Imely left, Elizabeth didn't really know what to think. Their conversation had left her rather mentally drained, so instead of attempting to puzzle through the endgame of the Genii, she went back to work on her bindings. Quietly. She assumed there were people guarding the cellar door, so it seemed that her best chance at escape would be when they came to move her. If she could manage to get free before that then maybe she could hit at least one guard over the head with a jar or something and slip by the others. Her plan after that was to run away, even if it meant getting lost in the forest. It wasn't the most sophisticated strategy, but Atlantis would eventually send a team to look for them, so staying on this world was important.

The repetitive motion of wearing down the rope lulled her into almost a trance where her mind drifted aimlessly for a while before eventually coming to settle on Imely's last words to her. She must have given too much of her personal feelings for John away when she was trying to be nice and console the disappointed fiancé. _Big faker she turned out to be_. Elizabeth didn't know if it was a result of the her impending capture by the Genii or her spinning head not working correctly, but somewhere in that swirl of random thoughts she realized that she couldn't classify what she felt for John as just a crush any longer. She had tried for so long to write off her feelings for him as a simple attraction or a stubborn infatuation. It was obvious now that what she felt for him went much deeper and way beyond friendship. The fact that her feelings had endured for this long, despite her repeated attempts to deny them meant that they weren't going to go away anytime soon.

Yet, unlike Imely had suggested, she couldn't just tell John how she felt. All of those reasons, the ones she had previously used to try to overcome her crush on him, still existed. Despite what she felt and what she wanted, the reality of the situation was that they had to work together. And they already had a good, albeit not romantic, relationship. John probably was her best friend in Atlantis, and she didn't know how she would function without his candid advice and support, both personally and professionally. It was something that she just couldn't afford to jeopardize. Elizabeth tried not to dwell on the sadness that filled her with this last revelation, but in the seconds that followed she wished she could return to that self-delusion she had been living in, more or less happily, only a few days ago.

Then her attention was drawn by several thumping sounds above her. Elizabeth stilled, not wanting her captors realizing that she was trying to escape, however unrealistic the attempt would be. Bright light again flooded the room as the door at the top of the stairs opened and this time she recognized the profile in the doorway. It was Ronon. Elizabeth watched as he glanced around the room before his eyes settled on her, looking relieved.

He quickly made his way down the stairs, coming to kneel beside her. "Let's get out of here."

"I like that plan," Elizabeth said, bending forward a little to give him room slide a knife under her bonds. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Ronon smirk a little in response. "Did you find the others?"

Ronon nodded, "Lorne was tied up in a barn with me. After we both got free he went to look for the rest of his team and I came to find you."

Elizabeth felt the rope snap and stretched her arms, trying to work out some of the stiffness from being tied for several hours. Then she took Ronon's hand and let him pull her up to stand next to him. This sudden movement caused her world to shift violently. She couldn't help but let out a small groan and reach out to catch her balance. Ronon managed to grab an arm to steady her, his other hand pressed firmly against her back. Elizabeth was grateful for the help and after a moment her vision cleared.

"Are you going to be okay to walk?" Ronon asked quietly.

"I think so. Whatever they gave us really hasn't agreed with me." Elizabeth drew in a calming breath, feeling a bit better. "Besides it's not like I have a choice, right."

Ronon gave her a long look and then handed her a tac vest, "Here put this on. We're meeting Lorne at the well. Then we're going to try to get back to the gate."

Elizabeth put on the vest, happily noticing that Ronon had all his weapons back, at least the ones she could see. "Let's go."

"Stay close to me and try to keep quiet." He instructed.

She followed Ronon up the stairs, taking note of two guards sprawled out on the floor, and then out of the house. The well was on one side of the property, fairly near the forest. Ronon led her through deep shadows, keeping close to the buildings for cover. They ran into two more guards on the way, but managed to stun them quickly. After each guard had been subdued they both crouched, waiting to see if they had been heard before continuing. Elizabeth didn't know how long it took them to reach the well, only not to find Lorne's team there.

"We should go back for Lorne." She said quietly, trying to look for them in the shadows. It was a cloudy night and therefore rather hard to see.

Ronon shook his head, "We wait five minutes and then I try to get you back. Thats what we decided."

Elizabeth opened her mouth to protest, but then Lorne's team emerged from some shadows at a nearby stand of trees. The Major held up one hand in greeting and then tilted his head toward the forest.

"Good to see you Dr. Weir." Lorne said once they had met up in the cover of the trees.

"You too Major," Elizabeth replied with a smile.

"I don't suppose you know why all this is going on?" He asked in a low tone, as Ronon handed over two more tac vests to the team.

"Well, they were going to hand us over to the Genii."

Lorne looked thoughtful, "Huh. But I thought we-"

"Yeah I thought so too," She said quietly. "But Imely said thats who she was receiving-"

"Sheppard's fiancé?" Now he looked surprised. "I didn't see that one coming."

Elizabeth shrugged.

"Hey," Ronon interrupted their whispered conversation now that the team was ready. "We should leave now."

"Right. The gate is this way." Lorne immediately got back to the business of their escape. "My concern is that we have to cross that grassland to reach it. It was too easy to get out of the farm, so that means they'll have people guarding the gate, and we'll be easy to see without cover."

"Atlantis will send a team eventually," Ronon pointed out.

"Yeah, that's what I'm counting on. Hopefully we won't have to wait that long." Lorne looked at her, suddenly concerned. "Are you okay ma'am?"

Elizabeth carefully nodded. The spinning feeling was returning now that some of her adrenalin was wearing off. "Just a little dizzy. I'll be fine."

Lorne paused and then nodded. If Elizabeth hadn't been watching him carefully she wouldn't have noticed his eyes flick quickly over to Ronon before saying, "All right. Lets head out then."

Their flight to the gate was a blur for Elizabeth. They quickly moved through the forest, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Partway through the journey her balance started faltering; causing her steps to sway, and it took her a while to realize that Ronon had a hand on her arm to keep her steady. Not too much later her vision started clouding over and suddenly she wasn't walking anymore, but rather was being carried. She was too out of it to protest, instead watching the trees blur past. Elizabeth thought she saw the stargate across a meadow and then a puddlejumper appearing before everything faded to darkness.

* * *

**TBC**


	11. Over the threshold

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** This takes place sometime after _The Tower_, so I guess anything before that is fair game.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own them or Firefly.

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** Okay, sorry about the delay for this one, but after real life gave me time to write, I couldn't find a good place to break the chapter, so I just kept writing. And it turned out to be kind of long, well at least for me. Hopefully the result isn't too chaotic!

* * *

**Chapter 11- Over the threshold**

John jumped up from his chair, drawing startled looks from Teyla and Rodney. They had been sitting in Elizabeth's office for the past two hours playing cards. He was proud of himself for remaining in one place for so long, but now he needed to escape. "I'm going to go get some coffee." He announced. "You guys want anything?"

"I'll take some coffee too." Rodney answered. He had joined them in Elizabeth's office shortly after the meeting to wait for any news from the search teams. "I can come with-"

"I can just bring it back for you, McKay. Teyla?"

"No, thank you." Teyla said and turned her attention back to the cards she was shuffling. While waiting, they had taught Teyla how to play hearts, and in the last couple hours she had gotten quite good.

He started walking to door, but paused before leaving. "Call me if we hear anything."

"Of course, John." Teyla reassured him. The teams had checked in about a half hour ago, not finding anything after the scanning an area around the stargate and forest. He had instructed one team to stay near the gate, while the other was to start for the village. Hopefully they would hear something soon.

John took the long way to the mess hall, not even using a transporter. What he told Teyla earlier was true; he was not good at sitting and waiting. Walking and waiting was only slightly better in his opinion, but it was the only option he had right now. On the way he almost wished he had taken McKay up on his offer for company to go get coffee. At the time he thought that he wanted to be alone, but now without something else to occupy his thoughts, his mind kept drifting to possible explanations for the missing team, and none of them were very optimistic.

John was a little surprised at how easily he was jumping to the worst possible conclusions. Usually he was better at compartmentalizing his thoughts and emotions, concentrating on the next step and not letting worry or fear override rational thought. It was a necessary skill for any soldier and even more so here on Atlantis with the wide variety of crazy situations they found themselves in. However, this time it was much more difficult to focus. He decided this was due to his inability to physically do anything. Instead, he had to give the orders and wait for others to carry them out. Yet John knew that was only part of the truth. It was more about the person that was missing. _Elizabeth._ He always seemed to take her well-being the most personally, and right now he couldn't help but feel like he had somehow failed her.

Before long John stopped walking, realizing that he had to get a hold of himself and keep a clear head. He drifted over to one side of the hallway, finding a window that gave a breathtaking view of the city's edge and surrounding sea. It was a beautiful night, cloudless, so that the stars could be seen twinkling above. The moon was almost full and its light illuminated the dark rippling of the waves. The sight of the ocean, calm and strong, seemed to help order his jumbled thoughts. Elizabeth would be okay. She was a smart woman. Lorne and his team were more than capable of protecting her. Ronon specifically was looking out for her. And if something had happened, they would figure it out and find her. Elizabeth had assembled one hell of a team in Atlantis and they all would do what was necessary to get her back. She would be fine. Feeling better, John turned from the window and walked the rest of the way to the mess hall, now with some degree of mental peace.

Five minutes later he was in the kitchen trying to decide between pretzels and potato chips. Teyla deserved a proper Earth card playing experience, which included eating snack food. He had already grabbed some coffee for himself and Rodney and the steaming cups sat on a counter near the kitchen entrance. All of a sudden he heard voices outside in the dining area. Not wanting to answer questions about Elizabeth, John chose to remain in the kitchen until these people left. He eventually chose the pretzels, tucked the bag carefully under one arm, and went to stand next to the coffee to wait until the coast was clear. Now he could easily hear two people talking outside the door.

"I'm on duty in ten minutes." Chuck said.

"That explains the coffee then." A woman's voice, that after a moment John recognized as Sandra Durine, one of the marines, replied. "I thought you were on this morning? That's really bad luck having to pull a night shift the same day."

"Yeah." There was a pause and then Chuck continued. "Nicole was supposed to be on tonight, but she came down with some stomach thing-"

"Ewww."

"Oh, I didn't ask for details, I just said I would take her shift."

"I hear Weir and Lorne's team hasn't checked back in yet." Sandra said seriously.

"That's what I've heard too. I hope everything is okay." Chuck sounded worried. "Two teams were sent to look into it, but they haven't found anything yet."

At this point John was glad he had stayed in the kitchen so that he didn't have to talk about any of this. Not surprisingly, Chuck was well enough informed to answer any questions on his behalf. _Thanks Chuck._

"Those two are so cute."

"Oh, great. Here we go again." Chuck said in an amused tone. "You people are hopeless romantics."

"You know he sent Ronon to watch out for her. I heard it myself."

"Really."

"Okay, well not in so many words. This morning I had to drop off a report in the control room, so I saw Sheppard pull Ronon aside as they walked out of the briefing room. He said "Ronon" and then Ronon interrupted him and said "I know Sheppard" and walked off. It was kind of funny." Sandra explained.

There was a pause in the conversation and then Chuck said, "You know what else is kind of funny? Dr. Weir practically told me to look out for Sheppard."

"No way."

"Well she phrased it as, "Chuck, please try not to let John and Rodney blow up the city," but I know what she meant."

Sandra laughed a little at this. "Wait. So you're a hopeless romantic too." She accused.

"I am not." Chuck scoffed.

"I think you are. And you took this shift so you could look after Sheppard. That's really sweet of you Chuck." She teased.

"I just want to know what's going on." Chuck sounded a little embarrassed. "But I bet he's taking this hard. He didn't want her to go in the first place."

"You know, it would be so much easier if those two would just realize that they're half in love with each other."

"Yeah."

"See." Sandra's voice rose triumphantly. "Hopeless romantic."

"Well, if you'll excuse me, some of us need to go to work."

"I'm taking your non-response as agreeing with me." She replied.

"I don't think so," Chuck shot back.

Their voices faded as they continued to argue, obviously leaving the mess hall.

John stared at the door well after they had left, stunned by the conversation. He knew that rumors ran wild on Atlantis. He had heard several about himself, usually also involving Teyla, although there had been the occasional one about him and Elizabeth too. More recently though he hadn't heard much of anything. Well, obviously until just now. It was...it was ridiculous.

John picked up the coffee and started back to the office. He didn't want to think about all of this, especially having just straightened out his thoughts regarding Elizabeth's disappearance. Yet on the way to her office, he couldn't help but remember what he had overheard. He and Elizabeth were just colleagues and good friends. Yes, he did try to look out for her welfare, but that was all done in the spirit of friendship. Elizabeth was under a lot of pressure and sometimes needed to be reminded to eat or take time off. As her second in command he had a right to be concerned and make sure she was doing okay. He knew that they flirted once in a while, but it wasn't really flirting. Talking and joking around with Elizabeth came so naturally and with very little effort. And, besides he couldn't see himself as Elizabeth's type, so there was really no point to continuing this line of thought. What Chuck and Sandra had been talking about were two people that were close, that had been through a lot together, and had a comfortable friendship. That was all. He had other close friends, and he could be friends with a woman without it being anything else. Look at Teyla. It wasn't his fault if people assumed _things_. With these final thoughts, John crossed the front of the control room, heading for Elizabeth's office. He noticed Chuck had taken his seat. _I may have to downgrade Chuck on the awesome scale. _

When he finally made it to the office, he was glad Teyla and Rodney chose not to comment on his long absence. They seemed to appreciate the snacks and settled in to play cards once again. Halfway through the second game the gate alarm sounded.

"What have we got Chuck?" John questioned, walking over to the console and feeling rather proud for controlling his impulse to run.

"It's Jumper two Colonel." He answered. "Go ahead Miller."

"Atlantis, we've got everyone and are heading back."

John felt a flood of relief as the nightmare that had been his evening and early morning was now suddenly over. However, his concern returned with Miller's next statement.

"You should get a medical team to the jumper bay. Dr. Weir is unconscious."

"What?" John asked, gesturing for Chuck to page the infirmary and Beckett.

"She collapsed on the way to the gate. She's breathing fine and everything, but we're not sure what's going on."

"Thanks for the heads up." His fears had subsided a bit with the additional information. "Hurry back."

After the transmission ended he turned to look at Teyla who was now standing just inside the control room with Rodney.

She gave him a comforting smile, "You and Rodney go. I'll stay here in case anything else comes up."

John looked at her gratefully and quickly walked out of the control room with McKay close at his heels. They made it to the jumper bay in record time, neither saying much on the way, arriving just as the puddlejumper landed firmly on the deck. Lorne's team exited the jumper first, followed by Ronon who was carrying Elizabeth in his arms.

The medical team wasn't there yet, so John rushed up to see her, noting that Ronon looked a little worried. Elizabeth lay still, breathing deeply, almost like she was sleeping. She was astonishingly pale, making the brown curls lying carelessly across her forehead seem darker, and streaks of dirt stood out clearly on her face.

"Infirmary. Now." He ordered quietly, his eyes never leaving Elizabeth.

Ronon immediately started walking in the direction that the med team would be coming. John waited a second to follow until Lorne was even with him, so the two of them could walk together. "What the hell happened?"

"I thought she looked kind of unwell before we left the farm, sir, but she said it was just a little dizziness. About halfway to the gate she collapsed." Lorne replied.

John realized that Lorne assumed his question had been about Elizabeth, which it was, but he wanted to know all of what had happened. "Okay. And?"

Lorne then proceeded to fill him in on the entire day, from their time in the village to eventual capture by Imely and probable involvement of the Genii.

"But I thought we had a truce with-"

"So did I Colonel," Lorne said. "Maybe Dr. Weir knows more about it than she told me. We were in a hurry to get out of there."

"And you did a good job of that, Major." He replied. They had reached the infirmary, but hadn't gone in yet because of their discussion. "You should let the Doc check you out now."

"Yes, sir."

John followed Lorne through the door, spying Carson working on Elizabeth in the far corner. Rodney and Ronon were with her. He started over to her bed, checking on the rest of the team along the way. So far it appeared that everyone just had minor cuts and bruises. Except for Elizabeth, they had lucked out on this one. He ended up sitting on a stool near the bed while a nurse finished taking blood. After a minute of watching her, almost to remind himself that she was indeed back, John looked up at Ronon, who was leaning against the wall to his right.

"You okay?"

Ronon nodded, "Yes. Lorne fill you in?"

"Yep. We'll do a formal briefing after we know what's going on with Elizabeth." He responded, turning back to watch Carson examine her. She still looked so pale.

A moment later Carson addressed him, Ronon, and Rodney, "Well, the only thing I can find wrong with her right now is a concussion, which may have caused her to lose consciousness." He motioned to Ronon, "But you did say you were drugged, so it's possible that getting hit on the head and whatever you were given may have reacted unfavorably. I'll know more when I get her test results."

"That's it?" John failed to hold back his response.

"Colonel, she's been here for fifteen minutes." Carson answered patiently. "It appears that she's not in any danger right now. Normal breathing, blood pressure, temperature, and her pupils are reactive. She's just unconscious. I'd say there's no real reason to worry right now, but I have to wait for the blood tests or for her to wake up. Give me an hour."

John sighed. It looked like there was more waiting in his future. "Okay."

He stood and walked over to Lorne to tell him they would do the debriefing in the morning. It was almost 4 AM and they all needed some sleep. Maybe by that time Elizabeth would be awake too, so they could get more of her side of the story. Then he stepped out of the infirmary to radio Teyla and explain the situation. When he returned, the commotion had died down as Lorne and his team had left, and the on call medical staff had gone back to the sleep rooms. As he passed Carson's office, John could see light coming from under the door and assumed that the doctor was waiting for Elizabeth's test results.

Rodney and Ronon were still by Elizabeth's bed when he reached it. After John had taken his seat again, Ronon pushed off the wall and called it a night, but Rodney stayed a while longer. They didn't say anything for a time, just sitting in the relative silence of the infirmary and watching Elizabeth. Her face had been washed, so the streaks of dirt were gone. Sometime during his brief absence they had also changed her into hospital scrubs, the white of them only a shade lighter that her face.

"She's going to be fine, you know." Rodney said, the low tone of his voice disturbing the quiet of the infirmary.

"I know." John answered softly and ran a hand through his hair. "That doesn't mean I don't worry though."

"I know." Rodney replied with a half smile and stood from his chair. Before he left he added, "She always worries about you too. Good night John."

Too tired to puzzle out the unreadable look on Rodney's face during that last comment, John simply watched him exit the infirmary before turning his gaze back to a motionless Elizabeth. She looked so fragile, so unlike the strong and lively woman he knew. As he sat there, a fragment of a conversation heard not that long ago drifted back to the front of his mind.

_"… if those two would just realize that they're half in love with each other."_

* * *

**TBC**


	12. Something New

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** This takes place sometime after _The Tower_, so I guess anything before that is fair game.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own them or Firefly.

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** Hey folks, we're winding down to the end. Just a chapter or two left, I think. Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad you guys are still enjoying the story!!

* * *

**Chapter 12- Something new**

_"… if those two would just realize that they're half in love with each other."_

John sighed and pushed the words out of his head. The strain of the day combined with lack of sleep was obviously having an effect on him. He should really go to his quarters and get some rest before the briefing, but he just couldn't leave Elizabeth alone in the infirmary. Having woken up here too many times to count, he knew it was nice to see a friendly face. Elizabeth had stayed with him a number of times and he would do the same for her now. Besides, he knew that he wouldn't be able to fully rest until he saw her awake and unharmed.

After a while of just sitting there listening to the quiet beeping of the infirmary machines, John decided he needed a more comfortable seat, and moved to the chair Rodney had occupied, shifting it closer to the side of Elizabeth's bed. He noticed for the first time the bruises and cuts that ringed both of her wrists. Lorne said they had been restrained and from these injuries it looked like Elizabeth had been trying to escape. He couldn't help but feel proud of her for trying to fight her own way out, of course, knowing Elizabeth she probably would have tried to talk her way out of the situation first. Although the wounds had been cleaned and bandaged, they were a sharp reminder of the day. Well, atleast now she was back safe in Atlantis.

"You're not allowed to do that again, okay. I was really worried." The words left his mouth before he had even realized he was speaking. A quick glance around the room confirmed that they were alone. There weren't any patients spending the night in the infirmary and Carson was behind the closed door of his office. John breathed a sigh of relief, feeling rather exposed talking to an unconscious Elizabeth. He reached out to gently to take her hand. The feel of her hand, warm in his, helped to ground his emotions.

"How about from now on, I get to be the one that gets captured and you get to wait." He added in a soft voice.

Of course there was silence. Talking to Elizabeth was nice, but kind of weird because she couldn't respond. Yet he continued the one-sided conversation, attributing it to his sleep deprived brain.

"While I have you here, I would appreciate a heads up the next time you think Rodney is going to try and talk me into one of his experiments. Chuck did manage to deflect him for a while, but he eventually cornered me in your office, which by the way I'm almost convinced has some sort of magical power to make McKay shut-up...Oh and just so you know, I wouldn't let Rodney blow up the city."

This time there was a quiet moan in response to his comment. John instantly stood from his chair to peer down at Elizabeth's still form on the bed, trying to assess whether she was waking up or if he had just imagined the noise.

"Elizabeth?" He said carefully, watching for any sign of movement. Relief washed over him when finally her eyes fluttered open and then a moment later focused on him.

* * *

Elizabeth was floating in a familiar haze. She didn't know why it seemed familiar as her thoughts were too scattered to remember, but it really did feel like she had done this before. The sound of a voice slowly penetrated the cloudiness, helping her fight back to consciousness. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light, but the first thing she noticed was John leaning over her. His expression was entirely unguarded, a mix of concern and relief, tinged with tiredness. She stared at him for a moment, a little confused to exactly what was going on before her memory of the long day returned.

"Hey."

The edges of John's mouth quirked up into a warm smile. "Hey, yourself."

Elizabeth felt a pressure on her hand, realizing that John was holding it tightly. She looked around the room, instantly recognizing it as Atlantis' infirmary. How exactly had she ended up here? Her memory was a foggy after they had started through the forest.

"You're in the infirmary." John said, as if he was reading her mind. "You guys ran into one of the search teams after escaping the farm. You've been back for about an hour now."

"Did everyone make it back okay?"

"Yep, and except for you, with only very minor injuries." A serious look briefly crossed his face. "How are you feeling?"

"A little out of it. My head's all fuzzy." She admitted, and then sifted to sit up. Talking to John from this angle was disorienting.

"Hey, take it easy." John released her hand and put an arm around her shoulders for support, in the process finding the correct button to incline the bed. "Carson says you have a concussion," he explained, settling on the edge of the bed.

"Well, that explains the headache and dizziness." She had been prepared for the throbbing pain and vertigo, although it wasn't as bad as before. "But at least this time I'm not tied up in a cellar." Her attempt at humor failed miserably as John's eyes dropped to her bandaged wrists. From the look of it, they had taken nearly as much damage as the ropes she had been trying to break through.

John surprised her by reaching out to gently trace one of the bandages with a finger, staring at it with a thoughtful expression on his face. When his gaze met hers again, there was a look in his eyes that sent a slight shiver through her, trapping her for a long moment. Before she could figure out what was going on, the spell broke as John snatched the hand back, running it through his hair. "Your wrists will probably sting for a bit, but shouldn't take too much time to heal." He said quickly.

Elizabeth tilted her head a little, regarding her second in command carefully. He was acting kind of weird. Wasn't he? Or was that the head injury talking?

"John, is everything all right?" She asked and then instantly regretted the words. In addition to pain and dizziness, aparrently concussions also resulted in the partial loss of an internal monologue.

"What?" He looked a little flustered. "Elizabeth, you were missing!"

"Well, yes." She replied, trying to downplay the situation. "But in the grand scheme of missing it was only for a handful of hours so-"

"It was long enough." He interrupted. "You have no idea how worried I was."

Elizabeth held his gaze for a moment, noticing the traces of concern still there, and then answered softly, "Believe me, I do."

Hearing this, John looked a little embarrassed. "Right…….Ah, sorry about that."

"It's okay, I've come to accept that worrying about you is a given." Yeah, she _really_ needed to stop talking now, especially with just having figured out how she felt about John earlier that evening.

John looked at her sharply and opened his mouth, but didn't get the chance to say anything.

"Elizabeth, it good to see you're awake." Carson was walking across the room with a chart in his hands. "Colonel, you should have come to get me as soon as she woke up." He admonished, coming to stand by the other side of the bed.

"It hasn't been that long, Carson." Elizabeth replied.

After consulting her chart, he started taking her vitals. "Well, you have a concussion."

Elizabeth nodded. "I was drugged too."

"Yes, I know. The rest of your team told me. There are still traces of the substance in your blood which I think is multiplying the effects of the concussion. Do you remember being hit in the head?"

"No, but I think I fell when the drug started to kick in." She thought back, but still wasn't able to remember anything more detailed than getting dizzy and blacking out.

"That makes sense." He replied, "Everything else looks fine, but I want you to stay in the infirmary overnight while the drug clears your system."

"Is that really necessary? You said-"

"Sounds good to me Doc." John interrupted, settling onto the edge of her bed again. He had moved while Carson was examining her. "I'll even reschedule the debriefing to late afternoon to give you more time to rest."

Elizabeth sighed, realizing that it was pointless to fight them both. "Fine." She narrowed her eyes at John. "But I'm remembering this Colonel."

John just smirked at her, his eyes twinkling.

"And you Colonel," Carson caught John's attention and pinned him with a look that was more amused than anything else. "Stop pestering my patient and go to bed. As you can see for yourself, she's going to be fine, so go get some sleep." With that Carson headed back to his office, leaving them alone again.

John turned to her and said a little sheepishly, "Well since I've been kicked out, I'll say good night. You need your rest."

"Good night, John" she replied, smiling softly at him.

John paused for a moment and then surprised her by reaching out to tuck a curl behind one ear, his hand lingering for a second on her cheek.

"Good night, 'Lizabeth."

**TBC**


	13. Maid of Honor

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** This takes place sometime after _The Tower_, so I guess anything before that is fair game.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own them or Firefly.

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** Hey guys! It's good to see that people are still reading this story. I have to say I never thought it would end up being this long. And because I used a Firefly plot for inspiration- go check out Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog, if you haven't already. Its awesome!!

* * *

**Chapter 13- Maid of Honor**

"Thanks Teyla," Elizabeth said, taking the set of clothes handed to her before shutting the white curtain to change. She had woken up in the infirmary a little after noon feeling rather well rested. After the obligatory check of vitals she had radioed Teyla to bring her a change of clothes, not wanting to walk back to her room in the infirmary's white scrubs.

"It was not a problem." Teyla's voice called from the other side of the curtain. "I do not like walking back to my quarters in scrubs either."

Elizabeth finished dressing, now feeling much more like herself, and pulled back the curtain. "You know, with the number of times your team ends up in here, I'm kind of surprised you all don't have a change of clothes stashed away somewhere."

"It's not such a bad idea." Teyla smiled. "How sad is that?"

Elizabeth grinned in response and then started to leave the infirmary with Teyla following.

"Just a second missy." Beckett's voice called out before she had taken more than a few steps.

She halted and turned to see the Doctor walking toward her. "Carson, you said I could go. I told you, I feel fine. I just have a nagging headache, no dizziness or anything else," She said with a sigh when he reached her.

"Yes, you did tell me all of that. But I'm going to remind you, again, to take it easy for the next couple of days. You still have a concussion, which will take time to heal, and the effects of it may come back on you."

"Okay." She dutifully replied.

"I mean it Elizabeth." He said seriously.

"I know, Carson." She said, touched by his concern. "Thanks for everything."

"So what time is the debriefing?" she asked Teyla once they had exited the infirmary.

"At three," Teyla said. "Do you want to go grab some lunch? We have time before the meeting."

"Sounds good to me." They had fallen into the habit of eating lunch together every so often, giving them a chance to talk without being interrupted. In that time Elizabeth had come to regard Teyla as a close friend. More than most people on Atlantis Teyla understood the pressures of being a leader and it was nice to be able to discuss some things with her. Of course, there were other topics of conversation that Elizabeth tried to avoid.

After a quick stop by her quarters, they made their way to the mess hall. The fairly late hour of their lunch meant that the dining room was rather empty. Since it was a beautiful day outside, they decided to eat on the balcony, enjoying the view of the ocean.

"So how was your day yesterday?" Elizabeth asked before taking a bite of her sandwich.

Teyla raised an eyebrow. "Unlike yours, my day was rather uneventful. It was business as usual around here."

"That's good to hear."

"And then when you made the day more exciting, the hardest part for me was convincing Colonel Sheppard that he could not go through the gate to look for you himself." Teyla took a sip of her lemonade, watching her with a strange look. "He listened better than I expected."

John was one of those topics they didn't often discuss, one that Elizabeth tried to avoid given how uncertain she felt about the relationship between him and Teyla. "Thank you, Teyla. I'm glad you could manage to convince him." she said, dropping her gaze to the salad in front of her where she was trying to spear a troublesome tomato with her fork.

"We were all worried Elizabeth." Teyla continued, causing Elizabeth to look back up at her. "John especially so. I do not know if it was because you were arguing or something else, but...well next time maybe you should just take him off world with you."

_Something else?_ Rather than try to figure out what Teyla meant, Elizabeth just rolled her eyes, "I think that is going to be unavoidable for a while. You know how overprotective he can be."

"Uh-huh." Teyla said after a pause, giving her another odd look.

"So, how are the Athosians doing?" Elizabeth attempted to steer the conversation in a safer direction. After asking she managed to knock her spoon off the table and in picking it up missed Teyla sighing and shaking her head before answering.

"They are doing great. You should come by the village when you get a chance. There have been many improvements since your last visit."

* * *

Elizabeth stopped by her office to grab a data pad before the meeting. Although Teyla said that John had hung out in her office yesterday, he must not have used the desk as everything was just as she had left it. The sight of the pot he had given her for her birthday caused her to pause, reminding her of how much things had changed since she was last in this office. She sighed and sank down to sit behind the desk, eyes still trained on the gift. What was she going to do about John? Or to put it more exactly, what was she going to do now that she had fallen for John. It would be difficult not to feel awkward around him now.

"Elizabeth."

She looked up to see John was standing a few feet from her desk, concern in his hazel eyes. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, John. You just caught me zoning out" She explained with a reassuring smile, guessing the reason for his concern. Looking for the data pad in a desk drawer gave her the perfect excuse to break eye contact. She didn't want to fall into the trap of getting too caught up his gaze right now.

"When I stopped by the infirmary earlier this morning, I promised Beckett I wouldn't let you work too hard."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and stood to join him. "I should have known Carson was going to try and use you all against me. Really, it was just a bump on the head."

"Well how about you take it easy for the next couple days, just in case." He said as they made their way to the door.

"I'll try." She raised one eyebrow at him. "But I'm not making any promises."

John chuckled. Elizabeth was going to say more, but then he pressed a hand against her lower back to usher her out of the office, and the unexpected touch momentarily disrupted her thoughts. _Yeah, I definitely need to figure out how to deal with this._

* * *

"All right." Elizabeth said once Rodney had taken his seat. She looked around the conference room, noticing that everyone had assumed their places. "It appears that we're all here, so if there are no objections, let's get started with the briefing."

There was a pause as everyone continued to look at her expectantly.

"And I guess I'll start," She said with a sigh.

Elizabeth launched into her side of the story, briefly summarizing her meeting with Alix in the morning, tour of the village, her capture and conversation with Imely. At this point Lorne, Ronon, and the others jumped in to talk about their experiences, but considering they hadn't spoken to any of the captors they only provided a limited amount of additional information. It took about a half hour to review the entire day before they came to the more pertinent issues.

"So how much do we think the Gandrians were involved in all of this?" Elizabeth asked to the room at large. Everyone else present had been to Gandria at least a few times with John's team having been the most frequent visitors.

"I have a hard time believing that Alix or the majority of the villagers had anything to do with this." Teyla said thoughtfully. "They just do not seem like that type."

Elizabeth watched as everyone around the table weighed Teyla's words. "So this is an isolated incident?" She prodded.

"That is what I think." Teyla answered with a shrug and few people nodded in agreement.

"I'm inclined to agree." Elizabeth said. "I think the town as a whole trades for food with the Genii, but only a handful of people know what they really are."

"They sure don't have the technology that the Genii have," Rodney added. After the experience with the Genii it had become their policy to do extensive scans of new allies.

"And it doesn't seem like the Genii would share their secrets with a whole set of villages that aren't too advanced." Lorne pointed out.

"I agree." John had been uncharacteristically silent during the meeting until now, although Elizabeth had noticed his jaw tighten when she talked about her capture. "A small group of Gandrians are in league with the Genii. It would make sense if it was some of the farmers. They probably would have had the most contact with the Genii out of everyone."

"But I thought you guys had a truce. Why would they break that all of a sudden?" Ronon asked.

"Ah, not to be the voice of dissension, but do we know for sure that these guys were working with the Genii?" Rodney spoke up, gesturing rather wildly with one hand. "I mean, you never saw the Genii, that's just what what's her name said."

Elizabeth internally groaned. This was one of the worst parts about working with geniuses. They didn't let the little things slide, even when you hoped they would. She had purposely left out portions of her conversation with Imely and the discussion she had overheard, not wanting to bring up the parts about John. Instead she told them only that Imely had admitted working for the Genii.

"We're sure Rodney. She admitted it to me and mentioned knowing about the Genii invading Atlantis." Elizabeth felt a little bad for telling them a half truth. "That's not something that is widely known and the Genii would only share that kind of information with people they trusted."

John raised his eyebrows, "You didn't mention that before."

"I thought I had." Elizabeth briefly glanced at him, feeling guiltier for misleading him specifically. "But to answer your question Ronon, I don't know why the Genii would act like this. We haven't had too much contact with them, but I thought we were getting along pretty well."

"Pretty well? Elizabeth, the last time you met with them, they tied you to a chair." John said incredulously.

"The question I have." Lorne interjected before she could comment that at least it had been comfortable chair. "Is why you and why now. We've all been visiting that village for the last couple of weeks, but now they decide to do this."

"I was wondering the same thing." John looked at her thoughtfully after he said the words.

Elizabeth was thankful for all of her diplomatic training. This was something else she had glossed over, more than a little embarrassed by Imely's assumptions of her and Sheppard's relationship. It now looked like she was going to have to double talk her way out of this one as well.

"First of all, we don't know that I was targeted specifically." This comment produced an array of disbelieving looks on the faces in the room.

"Elizabeth, the purpose of my engagement was-" John started, but she didn't let him finish.

"Okay, fine. I was the one being targeted. My guess is that they wanted to hold us hostage in exchange for something and thought the negotiating would go better without me here." _See, not a complete lie, in fact mostly the truth, just lacking a few details_.

"Without you here to negotiate." Teyla said slowly. "I guess so."

"Or maybe it was just my turn. But like I said before, Imely mentioned that the Genii had a time sensitive plan, so we need to be especially cautious on all off world missions for the next couple of weeks."

"Already done." John's eyes caught and held hers with an unexpected intensity. He continued in a tone that left no room for argument. "And you shouldn't go off world for a couple of weeks either."

Elizabeth really hadn't thought that far, but apparently John had. She shouldn't be surprised, like she had told Teyla before; he was nothing if not overprotective. "Okay."

There was a beat of silence until she broke away from his gaze. "Well, I don't think we have anything else to discuss, so meeting adjorned."

She was one of the first to leave the conference room, noticing Lorne pull John aside to consult about something. Good, maybe she would have time to herself to figure out a few things without having to deal with a certain Colonel, no matter how much a part of her would welcome or even wish for such an interruption.

* * *

**TBC**


	14. The vows

**Title: Our Mrs. Sheppard**

**Pairing:** Sparky

**Spoilers:** This takes place sometime after _The Tower_, so I guess anything before that is fair game.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own them or Firefly.

**Summary:** Sometimes John's off-world shenanigans catch up with him. And sometimes Elizabeth gets involved. Sparky.

**Author's note:** Okay, it's been a while what with vacation and people visiting, so I hope people are still reading. I also got stuck in a few places, but hopefully the end result is good! Please review!

* * *

**Chapter 14- The vows**

Much later that same day, John headed to the control room, intent on finding Elizabeth. Since the meeting he hadn't seen much of her, having spent the rest of the afternoon and evening dealing with a couple of new recruits and rearranging a few off-world teams. It all had taken quite a bit longer than he thought it would, but he hadn't minded, needing the time to think. He had realized this morning that Sandra and Chuck were right, well at least for his part of it. Sometime in the past two years he had fallen for Elizabeth. John now knew that he had felt this way for a while, but the problem was that he didn't exactly know what to do about any of it. Elizabeth was sort of his boss, and he valued her too much as a friend to screw things up. Looking over certain events of the past year, and some of things she had said last night led him to believe that Chuck might be right about Elizabeth too, but he also realized that it all might just be wishful thinking.

As if matters weren't already complicated enough, during the meeting he had a nagging feeling that something was off about Elizabeth. He couldn't pinpoint the issue exactly, but her version of events just didn't sit right with him. He had tried to shrug it off for the rest of the day, but the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced he was right. He didn't know any reason she would be less than perfectly honest with them, with him in particular. Recognizing that sleep was going to be rather impossible until he figured out what had happened, John decided to find Elizabeth, starting with the first place that came to mind, their balcony.

Once he had stepped through the balcony doors, John immediately noticed that Elizabeth was disappointingly absent from her characteristic place. The stillness of the night was rather comforting given the excitement of the past two days, so he momentarily suspended his search to wander out to the balcony's edge, resting his hands lightly on the rail. Only then did he spot a slight form in a darkened corner also staring out at the ocean, an area that had been out of sight from the doorway. It seemed Elizabeth was so lost in thought that she hadn't yet registered his presence. Despite his resolve to talk to her, John couldn't help but wait for a moment to observe her, her figure mostly in shadow yet visible against the stars. When Elizabeth let out a sigh he decided to make his presence known.

He cleared his throat, "It's a nice night, isn't it?"

Elizabeth jumped a little at the sound of his voice, turning from the railing to look at him. One hand came to rest on her chest, "Good God John, you scared me." She answered in a breathless tone.

"Sorry." Now he felt bad. After all she had been through, popping out of the shadows at her probably wasn't the best way to start this conversation, not that he really had any clue how to start this conversation. "It's kind of late, shouldn't you be getting to bed." He added, walking over to join her.

"Oh, don't you start too." Elizabeth said. "Carson has been not so subtly reminding me to take it easy all day."

"And you're out here hiding from him." John smirked, having figured out why she wasn't in her usual spot on the balcony.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Well, you're still up too. And I think you got less sleep than I did yesterday."

"Elizabeth, being unconscious doesn't count as sleep."

"Oh…….whatever," she said with a wave of one hand, apparently deciding it wasn't worth arguing about, before turning back to look out at the ocean with a slight smile on her face.

John just shook his head, choosing not to comment. The next time time he was stuck in the infirmary he was going to remind Elizabeth that she was just as unwilling a patient as himself. After a few moments of watching the waves and enjoying her company, John turned to face her, leaning one hip against the rail. "So what are you not telling me?" He asked evenly, deciding to go with the most direct approach.

"What do you mean?"

Her voice was too level in his opinion, a tone she used when negotiating or dealing with expedition members, but rarely one she used with him. It only confirmed his suspicions that she had omitted something from her account of the previous day's events.

"Elizabeth." He said seriously and waited until she turned toward him. "I know you left something out of your statement."

If John hadn't been watching her so carefully he wouldn't have seen the startled look pass briefly across her face. "Why do you say that?"

"I can't explain it. I guess I just feel like you're holding something back."

Elizabeth sighed and broke away from his gaze. "John, it's-"

"And it worries me that you won't tell me." He admitted in a softer voice, cutting off what he assumed was going to be another denial.

Elizabeth ran a hand through her hair and gave him a strained smile. "I guess you know me too well."

Sudden uneasiness coiled in his stomach at the sight of that smile, his mind going to the possible things that could have happened to her or been done to her while she was captured. "Elizabeth, what happened?"

He must not have been able to keep the worry out of his voice because Elizabeth's eyes widened and then a look of guilt washed across her features. "Oh, John…its just…. nothing happened to me." She assured him.

"Okay." Relief was thick in his voice. "Then what are you not telling me." He said, returning to his original question.

"John, it's really nothing."

"Well, if it is nothing then you can tell me."

Elizabeth gave him a long look and then muttered something to herself that he couldn't quite catch. "It's a little embarrassing…..but Imely sort of assumed some things about you and I."

"What things?"

"What things?" She stared at him like he was an idiot. "She assumed we were…involved or something. That's why the Genii wanted me, because they thought they would get farther negotiating with you for my safety. Apparently you made quite an impression on them when they invaded the city and you thought I was dead." The words had come out in a rush and now that the onslaught was finished, Elizabeth looked like she had regretted them.

"Oh." He hadn't thought the Genii would interpret his actions that way.

Elizabeth crossed her arms, seeming to have regained some of her composure. "Look, I know I don't need to remind you about this, but we wouldn't negotiate in that kind of situation."

"I know that." He said in a low voice. "But it would be hard not to."

"I know," Elizabeth replied with a soft smile, and for the second time in as many days John realized that she had to experience these types of things a lot more often than he did in Atlantis.

"Well, I think I'll be going to bed now," Elizabeth said, interrupting the silence that had fallen over their conversation and taking a step toward the door.

"I just have one more thing to ask you." John moved into her path causing Elizabeth to stop and wait for him to speak. He suddenly felt nervous and unconsciously took a step closer to her. "Why didn't you say any of this in the meeting?"

She looked up at him, startled by the question. "I didn't……John…" His name trailed off and John was too caught up in the swirl of emotions in her green eyes to notice that Elizabeth was blushing.

Silence hung in the air as they looked at each other. His hand drifted up to gently touch her cheek and before he realized what he was doing, John leaned in to catch her lips in a gentle kiss.

Elizabeth stiffened briefly in surprise and then relaxed against him. One of her hands clutched at his shirt to draw him closer, and then seconds later the other wove up into his hair. The feel of her so warm and responsive in his arms caused John to lose what little restraint he had. He pulled her even closer, his mouth more urgently taking hers, pouring all the worry, fear, and relief of the past couple days into the kiss. Time seemed to halt in that moment as he got lost in Elizabeth.

The sensation of her starting to pull away caused John to snap out of the passionate haze, and he quickly released her, moving a step back to give her some space. After a second, Elizabeth glanced up at him, breathing a little bit heavier than usual. She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it and ran a hand through her hair. John couldn't help but feel the smallest amount of satisfaction to have flustered the normally oh-so composed Elizabeth. She looked beautiful standing there in front of him with flushed cheeks and tousled hair.

"So that's what that's like." A smile touched the corners of her mouth and an answering grin spread across John's face.

"Yeah." He couldn't stop smiling at her and reached out to tuck a curl behind one ear.

She caught his hand on its way back to his side and laced her fingers through his. "You don't have to have to look so pleased with yourself." She noted, playfully raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, but I'm quite pleased with myself. And I think you are too." He used their joined hands to pull her toward him, meaning to kiss her again, but Elizabeth put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"John, what is this?"

He smirked, "Do I need to draw you a diagram?"

"No, I'm serious." She bit her lip in thought and her eyes shifted from his to the hand on his chest. "With our situation, if we're going to do this…." She sighed and caught his gaze with a serious look. "I just….I don't do flings."

"That's not what this is, Elizabeth." He said, giving the words a certain weight. "Not with you."

At hearing this, Elizabeth's mouth spread into an inviting grin. Her arms curled around his neck, pulling his lips down to meet hers in a soft kiss that quickly deepened into much more. It was longer this time before they came up for air, both breathing raggedly. They stood there for a while wrapped in each other's arms and staring out at the ocean, simply content to enjoy the moment.

"You know," John started, causing Elizabeth to raise her head from where it was resting against his shoulder to look at him. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but if this is the result of almost getting engaged off-world, I kind of wish it had happened sooner."

Elizabeth's eyes sparkled and before pulling him into another kiss she whispered, "Me too."

**The End**

* * *

**AN: **I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for reading and for all the reviews! I really had fun writing this one because it was based around my favorite reason for why Elizabeth and John haven't gotten together, basically she's delusional and he's oblivious. I may do an epilogue of sorts in the future, but am not sure exactly how it will go, so I'll end it here. Hope you enjoyed!!


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